Association Between the Degree of Severity of Pulmonary Hypertension With the Presence of Pulmonary Artery Aneurysm: A Brief Updated Review for Clinicians.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is defined as an increase in mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) ≥20 mm Hg at rest as assessed by right cardiac catheterization. It has a median survival nowadays of 6 years, compared to 2.8 years in the 1980s. A pulmonary artery aneurysm (PAA) is the focal dilation of a blood vessel involving all 3 layers of the vessel wall; they have a diameter greater than 4 cm measured in the trunk of the pulmonary artery. PAAs can be classified into proximal (or central) and peripheral. The clinical manifestations of PAA are primarily nonspecific, and most patients remain undiagnosed, even those with large PAA, due to its silent course; however, clinical manifestations occur unless when there are complications such as bronchial or tracheal compression (leading to cough and dyspnea), dissection, or rupture (leading to hemoptysis). PAH is observed in 66% of patients with PAA. PA dissections are usually associated with PAH; 80% of dissections occur in the main pulmonary trunk. Although there is no clear guideline for the best treatment of PAA, surgery is indicated in patients with a pulmonary trunk aneurysm >5.5 cm. It has been observed that patients in the PAH group associated with congenital heart disease tend to develop PAA more commonly. Those with PAH associated with connective tissue disease have a smaller diameter of PA dilation. This report presents a comprehensive review of PAA, discussing critical aspects of the clinical and imaging diagnosis, hemodynamics, and treatment. A comprehensive updated literature review is included; we believe this article will interest cardiopulmonologists.

In Situ Pulmonary Thrombolysis and Perfusion Lung Angiography in Severe COVID-19 Respiratory Failure.

A proof-of-concept study using thrombolysis with catheter-directed tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and pulmonary angiography imaging was performed to visualize perfusion deficits and reperfusion/therapeutic effects of tPA. DESIGN: A prospective, open-label, compassionate study. Descriptive statistics were presented for categorical variables and as means with sds for continuous variables. The Wilcoxon test was used to determine the differences between the two-related samples and a t test for continuous variables. Statistical significance was set at p value of less than 0.05. Agreement between observations was evaluated using the Kappa Cohen index and overall agreement using the Fleiss Kappa coefficient. SETTING: A single COVID-19 ICU of Mexico´s General Hospital Dr Eduardo Liceaga. SUBJECTS: Fifteen patients with severe Delta variant severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection, 18-75 years old, requiring mechanical ventilation with a persistent Fio2 requirement of 70% or higher and Pao2/Fio2 ratio (or imputed ratio) less than 150 for more than 4 hours. The coagulation inclusion criteria were International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis score greater than 5, and presence of a d-dimer greater than 1,200, with viscoelastic testing using rotational thromboelastometry (Instrumentation Laboratories, Mexico City, Mexico) showing both hypercoagulability (EXTEM amplitude at 5 min > 65 FIBTEM > 30) and hypofibrinolysis (EXTEM maximum lysis < 8%). INTERVENTIONS: Catheter-directed tPA angiography and iFlow system analysis to assess pre-tPA baseline pulmonary perfusion and changes in response to thrombolysis. RESULTS: Nine patients had microvascular filling defects demonstrated by angiography, and good agreement was found with iFlow analysis (ƙ = 0.714). Statistically significant differences were identified in the area under the curve (AUC) region of interest/AUC reference tissue with and without filling defects in phase 2 DM -0.09206 (sd ± 0.16684) (p = 0.003). The Pao2/Fio2 values measured immediately and 48 hours after the procedure were significantly higher (p = 0.001 and p = 0.005, respectively). Statistically significant differences were found in d-dimer values (p = 0.007), Fio2 (p = 0.002), and oxygen saturation in arterial blood/Fio2 (p = 0.045), as well as in the number of patients who required prone positioning before, immediately after the procedure, and at 48 hours after the procedure (p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Thrombolysis with catheter-directed tPA resulted in imaging evidence via pulmonary angiography and iFlow technology of improved lung perfusion in COVID-19 patients with severe respiratory failure.

Analysis of the density and distribution of entropy in biomedical infrared imaging for Diabetes Mellitus Type II.

We report a methodology to analyze data extracted from infrared images. These pictures show the lower limbs of a cohort of individuals belonging to, (1) voluntary controls and (2) patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type II. The analysis is presented in terms of Cross Entropy and temperature distributions; both using the associated thermal histograms. The temperature analysis is placed in terms of comparing the extreme values ofdS/dQ, for controls and patients. In this analysis for the frontal view, the values of specificity and sensitivity calculated were 77.77% and 91.66%, respectively. For the back view, the specificity and sensitivity obtained were 88.8% and 83.3%, respectively. Instead of that, the cross-entropy analysis is placed in the modality of self-referencing. In this part of the study we obtained the coefficient of asymmetry and thermal response (ATR). The values of specificity and sensitivity for the ATR quotient in both cases were 83.3%. The results of both studies have a significant correlation with glucose (p< 0.01) and HbA1c (p< 0.01). It means that both approaches have statistical correspondence. By means of the Mann-Whitney U test, for independent samples, we get that the characteristic parameters we analyze can be differentiated among the populations of interest with a significance ofp< 0.05. This suggests that both studies show consistency with the clinical diagnosis; exhibiting clear differences between control and patient groups.

The Neutrophil-to-Monocyte Ratio and Lymphocyte-to-Neutrophil Ratio at Admission Predict In-Hospital Mortality in Mexican Patients with Severe SARS-CoV-2 Infection (Covid-19).

There is a deep need for mortality predictors that allow clinicians to quickly triage patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) into intensive care units at the time of hospital admission. Thus, we examined the efficacy of the lymphocyte-to-neutrophil ratio (LNR) and neutrophil-to-monocyte ratio (NMR) as predictors of in-hospital death at admission in patients with severe Covid-19. A total of 54 Mexican adult patients with Covid-19 that met hospitalization criteria were retrospectively enrolled, followed-up daily until hospital discharge or death, and then assigned to survival or non-survival groups. Clinical, demographic, and laboratory parameters were recorded at admission. A total of 20 patients with severe Covid-19 died, and 75% of them were men older than 62.90 ± 14.18 years on average. Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and coronary heart disease were more prevalent in non-survivors. As compared to survivors, LNR was significantly fourfold decreased while NMR was twofold increased. LNR ≤ 0.088 predicted in-hospital mortality with a sensitivity of 85.00% and a specificity of 74.19%. NMR ≥ 17.75 was a better independent risk factor for mortality with a sensitivity of 89.47% and a specificity of 80.00%. This study demonstrates for the first time that NMR and LNR are accurate predictors of in-hospital mortality at admission in patients with severe Covid-19.