RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Racialized communities, including Black Canadians, have disproportionately higher COVID-19 cases. We examined the extent to which SARS-CoV-2 infection has affected the Black Canadian community and the factors associated with the infection. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in an area of Ontario (northwest Toronto/Peel Region) with a high proportion of Black residents along with 2 areas that have lower proportions of Black residents (Oakville and London, Ontario). SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies were determined using the EUROIMMUN assay. The study was conducted between August 15, 2020, and December 15, 2020. RESULTS: Among 387 evaluable subjects, the majority, 273 (70.5%), were enrolled from northwest Toronto and adjoining suburban areas of Peel, Ontario. The seropositivity values for Oakville and London were comparable (3.3% (2/60; 95% CI 0.4-11.5) and 3.9% (2/51; 95% CI 0.5-13.5), respectively). Relative to these areas, the seropositivity was higher for the northwest Toronto/Peel area at 12.1% (33/273), relative risk (RR) 3.35 (1.22-9.25). Persons 19 years of age or less had the highest seropositivity (10/50; 20.0%, 95% CI 10.3-33.7%), RR 2.27 (1.23-3.59). There was a trend for an interaction effect between race and location of residence as this relates to the relative risk of seropositivity. INTERPRETATION: During the early phases of the pandemic, the seropositivity within a COVID-19 high-prevalence zone was threefold greater than lower prevalence areas of Ontario. Black individuals were among those with the highest seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: There are substantial potential benefits to noninvasive cardiac monitoring methods, such as electrical cardiometry (EC), over more invasive methods, including significantly reduced risk of complications, lower up-front and operational costs, ease of use, and continuous monitoring. To take advantage of these technologies, clinical equivalence to currently established methods must be determined. The authors sought to determine if the noninvasive measurement of cardiac index (CI) by EC was clinically equivalent to thermodilution (TD) in adult patients with aortic stenosis (AS). DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional study comparing measurement devices in a single patient group. SETTING: Single-center, university teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS: The study included 52 adult patients with aortic stenosis undergoing right heart catheterization. INTERVENTIONS: Cardiac output (CO) was measured concurrently using EC with an ICON device and TD in 52 participants with AS. CI values were to determine the accuracy and precision of EC in reference to TD. Percentage error (PE) was used to assess their clinical equivalence. The participants were divided further into groups (normal and overweight/obese) based on body mass index and the analysis was repeated. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: CO measurement made by EC in adult patients with obesity or overweight was reduced significantly relative to TD. This was not observed in normal-weight adult AS patients. EC provided clinically equivalent measurements to TD for measuring CI in normal-weight adult AS patients (PE = 25.0%), but not for those adult AS patients with overweight or obesity (PE = 42.3%). CONCLUSION: Overall, the ICON device produced lower CO and index measurements relative to TD in adult patients with AS. Overweight and obesity also significantly affected the relative precision and accuracy of the ICON electrical cardiometric device to measure CI in these patients.
