INFUSION OF CONVALESCENT PLASMA IS ASSOCIATED WITH CLINICAL IMPROVEMENT IN CRITICALLY ILL PATIENTS WITH COVID-19: A PILOT STUDY.

BACKGROUND: The ideal treatment of coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 has yet to be defined, but convalescent plasma (CoPla) has been successfully employed. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to study the safety and outcomes of the administration of CoPla to individuals with severe COVID-19 in an academic medical center. METHODS: Ten patients were prospectively treated with plasma from COVID-19 convalescent donors. RESULTS: Over 8 days, the sequential organ failure assessment score dropped significantly in all patients, from 3 to 1.5 (p = 0.014); the Kirby index (PaO2/FiO2) score increased from 124 to 255, (p < 0.0001), body temperature decreased significantly from 38.1 to 36.9°C (p = 0.0058), and ferritin levels also dropped significantly from 1736.6 to 1061.8 ng/ml (p = 0.0001). Chest X-rays improved in 7/10 cases and in 6/10, computerized tomography scans also revealed improvement of the lung injury. Decreases in C-reactive protein and D-dimer levels were also observed. Three of five patients on mechanical ventilation support could be extubated, nine were transferred to conventional hospital floors, and six were sent home; two patients died. The administration of CoPla had no side effects and the 24-day overall survival was 77%. CONCLUSIONS: Although other treatments were also administered to the patients and as a result data are difficult to interpret, it seems that the addition of CoPla improved pulmonary function.

Outcome of Recipients of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplants Who Require Intensive Care Unit Support: A Single Institution Experience.

Admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a patient who has been grafted with hematopoietic stem cells is a serious event, but the role of the ICU in this setting remains controversial. Data were analyzed from patients who underwent autologous or allogeneic bone marrow transplantation at the Centro de Hematología y Medicina Interna de Puebla, México, between May 1993 and October 2014. In total, 339 patients were grafted: 150 autografts and 189 allografts; 68 of the grafted patients (20%) were admitted to the ICU after transplantation: 27% of the allografted and 11% of the autografted patients (p = 0.2). Two of 17 autografted patients (12%) and 5 of 51 allografted patients (10%) survived. All patients who required insertion of an endotracheal tube died, whereas 7 of 11 patients without invasive mechanical ventilation survived (p = 0.001). Only 10% of the grafted patients survived their stay in the ICU; this figure is lower than those reported from other centers and may reflect several facts, varying from the quality of the ICU support to ICU admission criteria to the initial management of all the grafts in an outpatient setting, which could somehow delay the arrival of patients to the hospital.

Infusion of convalescent plasma is associated with clinical improvement in critically ill patients with Covid-19: a pilot study

ABSTRACT Background: The ideal treatment of coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 has yet to be defined, but convalescent plasma (CoPla) has been successfully employed. Objective: The objective of the study was to study the safety and outcomes of the administration of CoPla to individuals with severe COVID-19 in an academic medical center. Methods: Ten patients were prospectively treated with plasma from COVID-19 convalescent donors. Results: Over 8 days, the sequential organ failure assessment score dropped significantly in all patients, from 3 to 1.5 (p = 0.014); the Kirby index (PaO2/FiO2) score increased from 124 to 255, (p < 0.0001), body temperature decreased significantly from 38.1 to 36.9°C (p = 0.0058), and ferritin levels also dropped significantly from 1736.6 to 1061.8 ng/ml (p = 0.0001). Chest X-rays improved in 7/10 cases and in 6/10, computerized tomography scans also revealed improvement of the lung injury. Decreases in C-reactive protein and D-dimer levels were also observed. Three of five patients on mechanical ventilation support could be extubated, nine were transferred to conventional hospital floors, and six were sent home; two patients died. The administration of CoPla had no side effects and the 24-day overall survival was 77%. Conclusions: Although other treatments were also administered to the patients and as a result data are difficult to interpret, it seems that the addition of CoPla improved pulmonary function.

Transcystic common bile duct exploration in the management of patients with choledocholithiasis.

Common bile duct stones are found in approximately 16% of patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. If the diagnosis of choledocholithiasis is made at the preoperative workup, it is common practice to refer the patient for endoscopic retrograde cholangiography and endoscopic sphincterotomy. However, if the diagnosis is established during intraoperative cholangiography, the surgeon is confronted with a therapeutic dilemma-that is, the choice between laparoscopic common bile duct exploration, conversion to open surgery, or postoperative endoscopic sphincterotomy. We have opted to treat patients with choledocholithiasis in only one session during the laparoscopic cholecystectomy; we use the transcystic common bile duct exploration technique employing the choledochoscope. We report our early experience in terms of success of stone removal, operative time, morbidity and mortality, and length of hospital stay. From 1992 to 2002, we performed 350 laparoscopic cholecystectomies. Selective cholangiography was used in 105 patients (30%); 40 of them were found to have common bile duct stones, for an incidence of 11.4%. Among this group, we performed laparoscopic transcystic common bile duct exploration in all but six patients. Our success rate for stone removal was 94.1% (32 of 34 patients), with only two failures related to multiple stones and impaction at the ampulla, for a conversion rate of 5.8%. The mean operative time was 120+/-40 minutes. The morbidity rate was 8.8%, and there were no deaths. Length of hospital stay was 24 to 48 hours. Mean recovery time was 7 days, and time to return to work was 15+/-3 days. We concluded that most of the patients with common bile duct stones found during laparoscopic cholecystectomy could be treated successfully by means of the transcystic technique with choledochoscopy, with no increase in morbidity or mortality and a shortened hospital stay and recovery time, similar to patients who undergo only laparoscopic cholecystectomy. On the basis of our results, we recommend that this method become the primary strategy in the great majority of patients with common bile duct stones found during intraoperative cholangiography.

[Exploration of biliary tracts for laparoscopy for treatment of choledocholithiasis]. / Exploración de vías biliares por laparoscopia para el tratamiento de la coledocolitiasis.

BACKGROUND: Common bile duct stones are found in approximately 16% of patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. If the diagnosis of choledocholithiasis is made in the preoperative work-up it is a common practice to refer patients to endoscopic retrograde cholangiography and endoscopic sphincterotomy. However, if the diagnosis is established during the intraoperative cholangiogram the surgeon confronts a therapeutic dilemma between laparoscopic common bile exploration, conversion to open surgery or post-operative endoscopic sphincterotomy. OBJECTIVE: We have opted to resolve the choledocholithiasis in only one session during the laparoscopic cholecystectomy, with the transcystic common bile duct exploration technique using the choledochoscope, or with laparoscopic choledochotomy. We report our early experience in terms of success of stone removal, operative time, morbidity, mortality and hospital stay. METHODS: from 1992 to 2003 we performed 460 laparoscopic cholecystectomies and using selective cholangiography in 138 patients (30%) we found 52 patients with common bile duct stones, for an incidence of 11.3%. RESULTS: Of this group we performed laparoscopic common bile duct exploration in 46 patients, and our success rate for stone removal was 95.6% (44 of 46) with only two failures related to multiple stones and impactation at the ampulla for a conversion rate of 4%. The mean operative time was 120 +/- 40 min. A morbidity of 8.6% was found, with no mortality. Hospital stay was 48 hrs. Mean recovery time was 7 days, and time to return to work 15 +/- 3 days. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that must of the patients with common bile duct stones found during laparoscopic cholecystectomy can be treated with success using the laparoscopic technique with choledochoscopy, without increased morbidity or mortality, and with a short hospital stay and recovery time similar to patients in whom only laparoscopic cholecystectomy is perform. According to our results we encourage that this method should become the primary strategy in the great majority of patients with common bile duct stones found during intraoperative cholangiography.

Un caso de hemartoma de glándulas de Brunner como causa de hemorragia de tubo digestivo / Case report of Brunner's gland hamartoma as a cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding

Mujer de 26 años con un cuadro clínico de síndrome anémico, vómito postprandial y melena intermitente de seis meses de evolución. La homoglobina de ingreso fue de 3.5 g/dL. El estudio endoscópico mostró un tumor que ocupaba el 90 por ciento de la luz duodenal. Se tomaron biopsias que se informaron como duodenitis aguda y crónica erosiva. Con diagnóstico de probable leiomioma, se efectuó laparotomía exploradora con duodenotomía y se resecó un tumor pedunculado que correspondió a un hamartoma de glándulas de Brunner. Esto ocasionó obstrucción duodenal parcial y hemorragia del tubo digestivo, los dos síntomas más comunes de este tumor raro

Non-Cryopreserved unmanipulated hematopoietic peripheral blood stem cell autotransplant program: long term results

Background. Methods to simplify bone marrow transplantation procedures are needed mainly in developing countries. Methods. Between May 1993 and Fenruary 1999 in a private-practice setting, we performed 29 autotransplants in 28 patients using non-cryopreserved and unmanipulated peripheral blood stem cells mobilized from the bone marrow to the peripheral blood by means of hematopoietic growht factors. The autografting procedure was performed entirely on an autpatient basis in 19 cases (65 percent). THe median age of the patients was 30 years, with a range of-967. There were 15 patients with acute leukemia (9 with acute myelogenous leukemia), 3 with chronic myelogenous leukemia, 2 with multiple myeloma, 3 with Hodgkin's disease, 2 with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and 4 with metastatic breast carcinoma. Results. The median time to achieve >0.5 X 10 a to nine/L granulocytes was 14 days /range 7-42), whereas the median time to achieve >20 X 10 a to nine/L platelets was 20 days (range 5-49). The 64-month post-transplant survival was 38 percent, whereas the median post-transplant survival was 18 months. The transplant-related mortality was 3.4 percent. The approximate cost of this simplified procedure was 10.8 percent for in-hospital procedures and for outpatient autografts, substantially lower than figures reported from the U.S. for autotransplants. Conclusions. This simplified method for autografiting patients, avoiding in-hospital stays, purging procedures and cryopreservation of the cells is feasible and results in a substantial decrease of the cost of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation methods