Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma Donor-Derived Infection and Hyperammonemia Syndrome in 4 Solid Organ Transplant Recipients From a Single Donor.

Hyperammonemia syndrome (HS) is a life-threatening condition occurring in solid organ transplant patients, affecting primarily lung recipients, and is associated with Mycoplasma hominis and/or Ureaplasma spp infection. The organ donor was a young man who died of hypoxic brain injury and had urethral discharge antemortem. The donor and 4 solid organ transplant recipients had infection with M hominis and/or Ureaplasma spp. The lung and heart recipients both developed altered conscious state and HS associated with M hominis and Ureaplasma spp infections. Despite treatment with antibiotics and ammonia scavengers, both the lung and heart recipients died at day +102 and day +254, respectively. After diagnosis in the thoracic recipients, screening samples from the liver recipient and 1 kidney recipient were culture positive for M hominis with or without Ureaplasma spp. Neither the liver nor kidney recipients developed HS. Our case series demonstrates the unique finding of M hominis and Ureaplasma spp dissemination from an immunocompetent donor across 4 different organ recipients. Phylogenetic whole genome sequencing analysis demonstrated that M hominis samples from recipients and donor were closely related, suggesting donor-derived infection. Screening of lung donors and/or recipients for Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma spp is recommended, as well as prompt treatment with antimicrobials to prevent morbidity.

Eradication of post-lobectomy mucormycosis and bacterial empyema with intrapleural antimicrobial therapy in a patient with surgically resected Mycobacterium xenopi (non-tuberculous Mycobacteria) pulmonary infection.

Empyema thoracis is a collection of pus in the pleural space associated with pleural fibrin deposition. Treatment involves systemic antimicrobials, pleural drainage, intrapleural enzymes and sometimes decortication. Our case is a 57-year-old gentleman who developed chronic mucormycosis (Cunninghamella sp.) and bacterial (Enterococcus sp.) empyema in a high-risk post-lobectomy space in the setting of a non-expandable lung following non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infection. The patient did not tolerate antimicrobial therapy for progressive pulmonary NTM infection, and required lobectomy, complicated by polymicrobial empyema. He did not respond to systemic treatment and long-term intercostal catheter drainage and therefore intrapleural taurolidine-citrate, and enzyme therapy was used to help eradicate infection. Intrapleural antifungals and taurolidine-citrate in combination with long-term antifungal therapy may help eradicate infection in patients with fungal empyemas. Further studies investigating the safety of taurolidine-citrate in pleural catheters are needed.

Period-to-Period Variability of Moderate/Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnoea.

INTRODUCTION: The severity of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is highly variable on a night-to-night basis. Patients are commonly categorised based on the severity of their OSA, and this is then used to influence management and reimbursement, including continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). We aimed to establish to what extent the OSA severity category changes during two periods of OSA, based on mean and maximum oxygen desaturation index (ODI). METHODS: Patients with a diagnosis of moderate to severe OSA who had been on CPAP for greater than 1 year were included in this study. Subjects underwent two periods of CPAP withdrawal for four nights each. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients completed the study. Based on the mean ODI of the four nights, 14 (56%) patients changed OSA severity categorisation, with three (12%) changing category to mild. Based on the maximum ODI of the four nights, nine (36%) patients changed OSA severity categorisation, with one (4%) changing category to mild. One third to a half of patients' OSA severity category changed between the two periods of four night's CPAP withdrawal. CONCLUSIONS: OSA is highly variable on a period-to-period basis as well as on a night-to-night basis. We believe the concept of patients having a definable and 'real' level of OSA severity is therefore flawed. OSA severity should be based mainly on symptoms, as these are the dominant reasons for treatment, and the sleep study should be used qualitatively to ascertain whether respiratory events are the likely cause of the symptoms. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN17987510.

Management of solitary fibrous tumours of the pleura: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Solitary fibrous tumours of the pleura (SFTP), or pleural fibromas, are rare tumours that generally, but not universally, follow a benign course. Surgical resection is the standard treatment, but there are no evidence-based guidelines regarding the management of these tumours. METHODS: Five databases were searched from inception to April 1, 2019 for studies reporting on SFTP management. RESULTS: Twenty-seven studies met the inclusion criteria (1542 patients, all non-comparative case series); 98% of these patients underwent resection and all SFTP included were pathologically diagnosed. 394 out of 1299 cases (30.5%, 95% CI 27.8-32.8%) were malignant with recurrence rates of between 0% and 42.9%. A pleural effusion was always associated with a negative outcome, but no other features were consistently reported to have negative associations. Preoperative biopsies incorrectly reported malignant histology in two studies. Over 25% of cases of recurrence occurred when a complete (R0) resection had been achieved. The first recurrence occurred >5 years after the initial resection in at least 23% of cases. CONCLUSIONS: There is strong evidence to support long-term surveillance after surgical resection of SFTP, even where a complete (R0) resection has been achieved; however, there is no clear evidence to inform clinicians regarding the selection of patients who should undergo resection. The rates of malignant SFTP and SFTP recurrence are higher than previously reported. Only those that were pathologically diagnosed or resected were included, which may bias the data towards more aggressive tumours. Data collection on radiologically diagnosed SFTP is required to draw conclusions regarding the timing and need for intervention.

The Hospital and Patient Burden of Indwelling Pleural Catheters: A Retrospective Case Series of 210 Indwelling Pleural Catheter Insertions.

BACKGROUND: Indwelling pleural catheters (IPC) offer an alternative to talc pleurodesis in recurrent effusion, especially in patients wishing to avoid hospitalization. Two randomized trials have demonstrated reduced time in hospital using IPCs versus talc pleurodesis in malignant pleural effusion (MPE). However, the impact of IPCs on hospital services and patients has not been well studied. OBJECTIVES: To analyze long-term outcomes of IPCs and understand the hospital burden in terms of requirement for hospital visits and contacts with healthcare, while the IPC was in situ. METHODS: IPC insertions in a tertiary pleural center were analyzed retrospectively. Reviews of patients with IPCs in situ considered "additional" to routine clinical follow-up were defined pre-hoc. RESULTS: A total of 202 cases were analyzed: 89.6% MPE group (n = 181) and 10.4% non-MPE group (n = 21). There were a median 3.0 (interquartile range [IQR] 3) and 2.0 (IQR 2) ipsilateral pleural procedures prior to each IPC insertion in non-MPE and MPE groups, respectively (p = 0.26), and a mean 1.3 (SD 1.7) planned IPC-related outpatient follow-up visits per patient. There were 2 (9.5%) and 14 (7.7%) IPC-related infections in non-MPE and MPE groups, respectively. Four (19.0%) and 44 (24.3%) patients required additional IPC-related reviews in non-MPE and MPE groups, respectively (p = 0.6), and these occurred within 250 days post IPC insertion. CONCLUSIONS: Although IPCs decrease initial length of hospital stay compared to talc pleurodesis via chest drain, IPCs are associated with significant hospital-visit burden, in addition to planned visits and regular home IPC drainages. IPC-using services need to be prepared for this additional work to run an IPC service effectively.