[Algorithm for flexible decision-making in the intra-hospital management of patients with the changing requirements of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic]. / Flexibler Entscheidungsalgorithmus zum innerklinischen stationären Patient*innen-Management unter wechselnden Anforderungen der SARS-CoV-2-Pandemie.

After the initial fulminant outbreak, the SARS-CoV­2 pandemic has now taken a more protracted course which, nevertheless, challenges hospitals in returning to a "normal" mode and in preparing for a worst-case scenario of a second wave. Not only the organization of the first contact with the patient and the admission in the emergency department but also the admission as an in-patient and the subsequent management requires both flexibility and clear directions of action for the medical personnel involved. The aim of the algorithm was to develop a structured, easy to implement and easy to follow guideline while simultaneously preserving resources. The algorithm covers some key points of decision making such as clinical signs, first contact, admission for in-patient treatment, consequences of swab and computed tomography (CT) results, and allocation and isolation measures within the hospital. The algorithm is not intended to guide diagnostics, decisions and treatment in the narrower medical sense but to provide more general instructions for the management of in-patients considering specific aspects of SARS-CoV­2.

[Organ transplantation in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients. Results of a survey in German transplantation centres]. / Vollorgantransplantation bei Patienten mit HIV-Infektion. Ergebnisse einer Umfrage an deutschen Transplantationszentren.

BACKGROUND: Despite considerable advances following the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy, organ transplantation is usually denied categorically for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients, and it is presented in German transplantation law as a contraindication. Today, this should be questioned critically. METHOD: A survey at all 87 German transplant centres was done concerning (1) how many HIV-positive patients were transplanted before and after February 2000, (2) willingness of the centres to transplant HIV-infected patients in the future, and (3) course of transplanted HIV patients so far. RESULTS: With a response rate of 78%, 39% of the questioned centres were accepting HIV patients in the future for transplantation, and 39% rejected this. Twenty percent voted for individual case decision. Three centres had practiced liver transplantation in 11 patients. CONCLUSION: The decision to transplant HIV-positive patients in Germany is mostly based on individual cases and not refused in general. However, prospective studies on this issue are justified and needed.