Pulmonary embolism in hospitalized COVID-19 patients: Short- and long-term clinical outcomes.

Introduction: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a frequent complication in COVID-19. However, the influence of PE on the prognosis of COVID-19 remains unclear as previous studies were affected by misclassification bias. Therefore, we evaluated a cohort of COVID-19 patients whom all underwent systematic screening for PE (thereby avoiding misclassification) and compared clinical outcomes between patients with and without PE. Materials and methods: We included all COVID-19 patients who were admitted through the ED between April 2020 and February 2021. All patients underwent systematic work-up for PE in the ED using the YEARS-algorithm. The primary outcome was a composite of in-hospital mortality and ICU admission. We also evaluated long-term outcomes including PE occurrence within 90 days after discharge and one-year all-cause mortality. Results: 637 ED patients were included in the analysis. PE was diagnosed in 46 of them (7.2%). The occurrence of the primary outcome did not differ between patients with PE and those without (28.3% vs. 26.9%, p = 0.68). The overall rate of PE diagnosed in-hospital (after an initial negative PE screening in the ED) and in the first 90 days after discharge was 3.9% and 1.2% respectively. One-year all-cause mortality was similar between patients with and without PE (26.1% vs. 24.4%, p = 0.83). Conclusions: In a cohort of COVID-19 patients who underwent systematic PE screening in the ED, we found no differences in mortality rate and ICU admissions between patients with and without PE. This may indicate that proactive PE screening, and thus timely diagnosis and treatment of PE, may limit further clinical deterioration and associated mortality in COVID-19 patients.

Overweight and Obesity Are Associated With Acute Kidney Injury and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, but Not With Increased Mortality in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Objective: To evaluate the association between overweight and obesity on the clinical course and outcomes in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Design: Retrospective, observational cohort study. Methods: We performed a multicenter, retrospective, observational cohort study of hospitalized COVID-19 patients to evaluate the associations between overweight and obesity on the clinical course and outcomes. Results: Out of 1634 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, 473 (28.9%) had normal weight, 669 (40.9%) were overweight, and 492 (30.1%) were obese. Patients who were overweight or had obesity were younger, and there were more women in the obese group. Normal-weight patients more often had pre-existing conditions such as malignancy, or were organ recipients. During admission, patients who were overweight or had obesity had an increased probability of acute respiratory distress syndrome [OR 1.70 (1.26-2.30) and 1.40 (1.01-1.96)], respectively and acute kidney failure [OR 2.29 (1.28-3.76) and 1.92 (1.06-3.48)], respectively. Length of hospital stay was similar between groups. The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 27.7%, and multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that overweight and obesity were not associated with increased mortality compared to normal-weight patients. Conclusion: In this study, overweight and obesity were associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome and acute kidney injury, but not with in-hospital mortality nor length of hospital stay.

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia ventilator-associated pneumonia. A retrospective matched case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is increasingly identified in critically ill patients, but it is considered a pathogen with limited pathogenicity and it is therefore infrequently targeted. This study explores whether S. maltophilia may cause ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and whether it affects intensive care unit (ICU) mortality and 28-day mortality when compared to VAP caused by other Gram-negative bacilli. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of a 19-year prospectively collected database. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia as a cause was considered in VAP-suspected cases when S. maltophilia growth of ≥10(4) cfu/ml was detected in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid analysis. Cases were matched on hospital, gender, age and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II score in a 1:3 ratio with controls from the same database suffering from VAP caused by other Gram-negative bacilli. RESULTS: Eight cases met the inclusion criteria, of which three were labelled as 'probable' SM-VAP and three as 'possible' SM-VAP. These six patients constitute 1.8% of all VAPs in the studied period. No significant differences in baseline characteristics and duration of mechanical ventilation (p = 0.68), length of stay in the ICU (p = 0.55) and hospital (p = 0.84) between cases and controls were identified between cases and controls. Intensive care unit mortality odds ratio was 1.7 (p = 0.55; 95% CI 0.3-10.5) and 28-day mortality odds ratio was 1.4 (p = 0.70; 95% CI 0.2-9.1). CONCLUSIONS: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a possible, yet infrequent cause of VAP. No outcome differences were found when compared to matched VAP caused by other Gram-negative bacilli.

Oral decontamination with chlorhexidine reduces the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia.

RATIONALE: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the most frequently occurring nosocomial infection associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Although oral decontamination with antibiotics reduces incidences of VAP, it is not recommended because of potential selection of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. We hypothesized that oral decontamination with either chlorhexidine (CHX, 2%) or CHX/colistin (CHX/COL, 2%/2%) would reduce and postpone development of VAP, and oral and endotracheal colonization. OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of oral decontamination with CHX or CHX/COL on VAP incidence and time to development of VAP. METHODS: Consecutive patients needing mechanical ventilation for 48 h or more were enrolled in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with three arms: CHX, CHX/COL, and placebo (PLAC). Trial medication was applied every 6 h into the buccal cavity. Oropharyngeal swabs were obtained daily and quantitatively analyzed for gram-positive and gram-negative microorganisms. Endotracheal colonization was monitored twice weekly. RESULTS: Of 385 patients included, 130 received PLAC, 127 CHX and 128 CHX/COL. Baseline characteristics were comparable. The daily risk of VAP was reduced in both treatment groups compared with PLAC: 65% (hazard ratio [HR]=0.352; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.160, 0. 791; p=0.012) for CHX and 55% (HR=0.454; 95% CI, 0.224, 0. 925; p=0.030) for CHX/COL. CHX/COL provided significant reduction in oropharyngeal colonization with both gram-negative and gram-positive microorganisms, whereas CHX mostly affected gram-positive microorganisms. Endotracheal colonization was reduced for CHX/COL patients and to a lesser extent for CHX patients. No differences in duration of mechanical ventilation, intensive care unit stay, or intensive care unit survival could be demonstrated. CONCLUSIONS: Topical oral decontamination with CHX or CHX/COL reduces the incidence of VAP.