Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) and Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST): A case series and review of the literature.

A large proportion of patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) suffer from excessive coagulation activation and coagulopathy which predisposes them to a wide spectrum of thrombotic events including in situ pulmonary thrombosis, deep-vein thrombosis, and associated pulmonary embolism, as well as arterial thrombotic events. Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) have also been reported but in a very small number of cases. This report aims to increase awareness about CVST as a potential neurological thromboembolic complication in patients with coronavirus disease. We report three COVID-19 patients presenting with CVTS. We also review all previously described cases and present an overview of their demographic, clinical, and diagnostic data. We describe three patients with concomitant coronavirus disease and CVST among 1000 hospitalized COVID-19 patients (2 males, 1female, and mean age of 37 years). One patient was previously healthy, while the two others had a history of chronic anemia and ulcerative colitis, respectively. CVST symptoms including seizure in two patients and headache in one patient occurred day to weeks after the onset of COVID-19 symptoms. Three months of anticoagulant therapy was given for all three patients with favorable outcomes. No neurological sequelae and no recurrence occurred within 6 months after hospital discharge. Our search identified 33 cases of COVID-19 complicated by CVST. The mean age was 45.3 years, there was a slight male predominance (60%), and more than half of cases were diagnosed in previously healthy individuals. All cases of CVT were clinically symptomatic and were observed in patients with a different spectrum of coronavirus disease severity. Headache was the most common complaint, reported by just less than half of patients. There was a high mortality rate (30.3%). CVT is a very rare, but potentially life-threatening complication in patients with COVID-19. It's mainly reported in relatively young individuals with no or little comorbid disease and can occur even in patients who do not display severe respiratory symptoms. Atypical clinical presentations may pose a challenge to the early diagnosis and treatment. High suspicion is necessary as early diagnosis and prompt treatment with anticoagulation in all patients with COVID-19 and CVT could contain the mortality rate and improve neurological outcomes in these patients.

Accelerated silicosis and silico-tuberculosis: A difficult diagnosis.

It is well established that exposure to respirable crystalline silica is associated with higher mortality. Such exposures are associated with an increased risk of silico-tuberculosis, silicosis, and other respiratory morbidities. We report two cases of accelerated silicosis, complicated with pulmonary tuberculosis and pulmonary infection.

Characteristics of Obese Patients with Acute Hypercapnia Respiratory Failure Admitted in the Department of Pneumology: An Observational Study of a North African Population.

BACKGROUND: Acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (AHRF) is a common life-threatening event in patients with obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS). OBJECTIVES: To study the clinical pattern, noninvasive ventilatory support, as well as the short- and long-term outcomes of patients with OHS admitted in a ward because of AHRF. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study including all adults with OHS aged ≥ 18 - year - old, admitted in a 90-bed-ward for AHRF. RESULTS: A total of 44 patients were included. Fifteen (34.1%) and 29 (65.9%) patients were diagnosed with malignant OHS (mOHS) and nonmalignant OHS (non-mOHS), respectively, while 36 (81.8%) had coexisting obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). Patients with mOHS had a significantly higher rate of heart failure (100% vs. 31%; p < 0.001), chronic renal insufficiency (CRI) (73.3% vs. 41.4%; p = 0.04), and dyslipidemia (66.7% vs. 34.5%; p = 0.04) than those with non-mOHS. The mean forced vital capacity (FVC) in our patients was of 59.5% ± 18.5 of the predicted value, lower than what is usually reported in stable patients with OHS. At hospital admission, more than two-thirds (n = 34, 77.3%) were misdiagnosed as having asthma exacerbation (n = 4, 4.9.1%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation (n = 12, 27.3%) and/or heart failure (n = 29, 65.9%). Acute pulmonary oedema (ACPE) (n = 16, 36.4%) and acute viral bronchitis (n = 12, 27.3%) were the main identified causal factors, while no cause could be determined in 5 (11.4%) patients. Noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) using bilevel positive airway pressure (BIPAP) was very highly effective to treat AHRF, with only 2.27% of patients failing the modality. Median overall duration of ventilation was 9 hours per day (1.3-20) and was significantly longer in patients with mOHS than in those with non-mOHS (10 [6-18] vs. 8 [1.3-20], respectively; p = 0.01). Forty two of the forty-three patients discharged alive were treated with BIPAP or continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in 26 and 16 patients, respectively. The probability of survival was 90% at 12 months, while the probability of readmission for a new episode of AHRF was 56% at 6 months and 22% at 12 months, respectively. CONCLUSION: AHRF in OHS patients is a life-threatening event which can be successfully and safely treated with BIPAP, with a low long-term mortality even in patients with mOHS.

An isolated spontaneous pneumomediastinum as a rare complication of COVID 19.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has displayed heterogeneity in disease manifestations and complications. This case report illustrates a rare issue : the spontaneous pneumomediastinum. A 73-year-old male presented with chills, and respiratory symptoms. A reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test- confirmed COVID19. At admission, the patient was in severe respiratory distress. C reactive protein was 54 mg/l (normal: 0-5 mg/l), , troponin were negative, brain natriuretic peptid 55 pg/ml (normal range <100 pg/ml) and D-dimer 700 mcg/l (normal: 0-500 mcg/l). Arterial blood gases showed pH 7.49 (normal: 7.35-7.45), PCO2 33,8 mmHg (normal: 34-46 mmHg) and PO2 56 mmHg (normal: 80-97 mmHg) with 16 liter per minute of oxygen. Computed tomography of the chest (CT chest) showed diffuse groundglass opacities (60-70%) without pulmonary embolism. Diagnosis of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) was made. Low flow oxygen was provided (Oxygen saturation target ≥ 94%), intermediate dose of low molecular weight heparin and 8mg of dexamethason were administarted daily. On day 10, worsening hemodynamics and blood oxygen levels was noted. CT chest showed moderate bilateral pneumomediastinum, without pneumothorax, persistent groundglass opacities (75%) with early fibrosis elements. The patient recovered with no pulmonary sequelae. This case report encourages health workers to get used with infrequent clinical and radiological manifestations of COVID-19 that is still surprising the world.

Nocturnal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (nCPAP) Decreases High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-CRP) in Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea Syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Systemic and airway inflammation has recently been linked to obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and is considered to be a probable risk factor for OSAHS-induced cardiovascular damage. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), as an inflammatory mediator, may be useful for the prediction of the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and assessment of nocturnal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) therapy effect in OSAHS patients. METHODS: A prospective, controlled, cross-sectional study was conducted on 64 consecutive adult subjects with suspected sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). RESULTS: OSAHS was confirmed in 43 patients (24 normotensive and 19 hypertensive patients) and ruled out in 21 normotensive subjects (controls). The median plasma level of hs-CRP did not differ significantly between OSAHS patients and controls. It showed an unmarked rise with the severity of OSAHS (p = 0.20) and was not correlated with AHI (p = 0.067; r = 0.28). After adjusting for cervical perimeter (CP), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and blood sugar level, hs-CRP level of 1 mg/dL or greater was significantly more often observed in OSAHS patients compared with controls (p = 0.032; OR = 5.60) and was also significantly associated with AHI (p = 0.021). A significant decrease in the median plasma hs-CRP level was observed in CPAP compliant patients (p = 0.006). Of those, only normotensive patients showed a significant decrease in plasma hs-CRP level. In hypertensive ones, however, the hs-CRP level dropped but not significantly. Using a linear regression model, the change in hs-CRP level (Δhs-CRP) following a 6-month-nCPAP therapy was found to positively correlate with the baseline hs-CRP level for both hypertensive (p = 0.02; r = 0.68), and even more normotensive OSAHS patients (p < 0.0001; r = 0.89). CONCLUSION: nCPAP therapy may have a cardiovascular protective effect in OSAHS patients. hs-CRP level would be useful as a valuable predictor of success in OSAHS treatment monitoring.

Coexisting central and obstructive sleep apnea and mild diurnal hypoventilation associated with unilateral diaphragmatic dysfunction and brainstem lesion.

A 63-year old man was diagnosed with coexisting central (CSA) and obstructive (OSA) sleep apnea, crescendo-decrescendo (CD) periodic breathing (PB), frequent sustained desaturation hypoxemia events related to prolonged hypopnea and mild diurnal hypoventilation. Unilateral diaphragmatic dysfunction (DD) related to diabetic phrenic neuropathy was identified. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the head disclosed frontal-subcortical white matter (WM) lesions, while brainstem MRI found a small punctiform defect in the median area of the pons. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy was ineffective, while a one-month bi-level positive airway pressure (BIPAP) trial provided better outcomes.

Metastasis of small cell bronchopulmonary cancer in the submandibular gland: a new case.

The metastases of bronchopulmonary cancer in the submandibular gland are infrequent. We report a case of metastasis in the submandibular gland in a patient with small cell lung cancer who had chemotherapy with disease stability.

Automatic Sleep Stages Classification Combining Semantic Representation and Dynamic Expert System.

Interest in sleep has been growing in the last decades, considering its benefits for well-being, but also to diagnose sleep troubles. The gold standard to monitor sleep consists of recording the course of many physiological parameters during a whole night. The human interpretation of resulting curves is time consuming. We propose an automatic knowledge-based decision system to support sleep staging. This system handles temporal data, such as events, to combine and aggregate atomic data, so as to obtain high-abstraction-levels contextual decisions. The proposed system relies on a semantic reprentation of observations, and on contextual knowledge base obtained by formalizing clinical practice guidelines. Evaluated on a dataset composed of 131 full night polysomnographies, results are encouraging, but point out that further knowledge need to be integrated.

Decision System Integrating Preferences to Support Sleep Staging.

Scoring sleep stages can be considered as a classification problem. Once the whole recording segmented into 30-seconds epochs, features, extracted from raw signals, are typically injected into machine learning algorithms in order to build a model able to assign a sleep stage, trying to mimic what experts have done on the training set. Such approaches ignore the advances in sleep medicine, in which guidelines have been published by the AASM, providing definitions and rules that should be followed to score sleep stages. In addition, these approaches are not able to solve conflict situations, in which criteria of different sleep stages are met. This work proposes a novel approach based on AASM guidelines. Rules are formalized integrating, for some of them, preferences allowing to support decision in conflict situations. Applied to a doubtful epoch, our approach has taken the appropriate decision.