Early use of tocilizumab in patients with severe pneumonia secondary to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection and poor prognostic criteria: Impact on mortality rate and intensive care unit admission.

ABSTRACT: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, keeps spreading globally. Evidence suggests that a subgroup of patients with severe symptomatology might have cytokine storms, which increases mortality. The use of interleukin-6 (IL-6) inhibitors may help in controlling the pathological immune response to the virus. Tocilizumab, a monoclonal antibody against IL-6, stands as an optional treatment for COVID-19 patients presenting this inflammatory hyper-response.We conducted a retrospective, observational, cohort study including 50 patients affected by COVID-19 with severe pneumonia and poor prognosis criteria, who have also undergone standard treatment; 36 of these patients additionally received tocilizumab in an early stage. The need for intensive care unit (ICU) admission, mortality, recovery of respiratory function, and improvement of biochemical and hematological parameters were compared between cohorts.Most patients were men, non-smokers and the most frequently reported comorbidities were hypertension and diabetes. Recurrent symptoms were fever, cough, and dyspnoea. 54.8% of patients from the tocilizumab group needed intubation, while in the control group 85.7% needed it. Treatment with tocilizumab significatively increased IL-6 levels, (554.45; CI 95% 186.69, 1032.93; P < .05) while C-reactive protein mean levels were reduced (-108.19; CI 95% -140.15, -75.33; P < .05), but no significant difference was found between cohorts. In comparison with the controls, tocilizumab reduced mortality (25.0% vs 42.9%, P = .021) and the number of ICU admissions (63.9% vs 100.0%, P = .021). 44.1% of patients treated with tocilizumab showed favorable radiological evolution, when compared with 15.4% of patients from the control group.Tocilizumab may improve clinical symptoms and mitigate deterioration observed in severe COVID-19 patients, and could be considered as an effective therapeutic option in subjects experiencing a significant inflammatory response to the disease.

Effect of daily consumption of extra virgin olive oil on the lipid profile and microbiota of HIV-infected patients over 50 years of age.

BACKGROUND: Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) has shown beneficial effects on the lipid profile and inflammatory parameters in general population. Our goal is to analyze these changes together with those of intestinal microbiota in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients over 50 years of age. METHODS: Experimental single arm open study. HIV patients over the age of 50 with undetectable viral load were selected. EVOO was distributed among the patients so that each one consumed 50 g daily for 12 weeks. Lipid profile, C-reactive protein (CRP), and intestinal microbiota composition were analyzed at the beginning and at the end of the intervention. RESULTS: Total cholesterol decreased significantly (5 mg/dL), and a nonsignificant decrease in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (12 mg/dL), triglycerides (21 mg/dL), and CRP (1.25 mg/dL) was observed. There was a significant increase in alpha diversity after the intervention in men and a decrease in proinflammatory genera such as Dethiosulfovibrionaceae was observed. Differences were also observed in the microbiota of men and women and according to the type of antiretroviral treatment. CONCLUSION: Sustained consumption of 50 g of EVOO in elderly HIV-infected patients might be associated with an improvement in lipid profile and alfa diversity of intestinal microbiota.

Left ventricular hypertrophy detected by echocardiography in HIV-infected patients.

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a predictor of overall mortality in the general population. The most sensitive diagnostic method is transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). In this study, we describe the prevalence of LVH, and the factors associated with it, in a group of patients with HIV infection. METHODS: TTE was offered to all patients attending the outpatient clinic of the Hospital Costa del Sol (Marbella, Spain) between 1 December 2009 and 28 February 2011. The corresponding demographic and clinical data were obtained. The left ventricular mass (LVM) was calculated and indexed by height(2.7). LVH was defined as LVM >48g/m(2.7) in men or >44g/m(2.7) in women. RESULTS: We examined 388 individuals (75.5% male, mean age 45.38years). Of these, 76.1% were receiving HAART; 11.9% had hypertension, 6.2% had diabetes mellitus, 23.2% had dyslipidaemia and 53.6% were tobacco users. The risk of cardiovascular disease at 10years (RV10) was 12.15% (95%CI: 10.99-13.31%). 19.1% of these patients had a high RV10. A total of 69 patients (19.8%) presented high LVM. Age, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, RV10 and the use of nevirapine were associated with a greater presence of LVH in the univariate analysis. In the logistic regression analysis performed, the factors retained in the model were the presence of high RV10 (OR: 2.92, 95%CI: 1.39-6.15) and the use of nevirapine (OR 2.20, 95%CI: 1.18-4.14). CONCLUSIONS: In this group of patients, the use of nevirapine and the presence of high RV10 were associated with LVH. The use of nevirapine might be related to its prescription for patients with higher RV10.

[Consensus document on the management after hospital discharge of patient with hyperglycaemia]. / Documento de consenso sobre el tratamiento al alta hospitalaria del paciente con hiperglucemia.

The present document intends to adapt the general recommendations set up in a consensus to elaborate the hospital discharge report in medical specialties to the specific needs of the hospitalized diabetic population. Diabetes is an illness with a very high health cost, being the global risk of death in people with diabetes almost double than in non-diabetes people, justifying the fact that diabetes constitutes one of the most frequent diagnoses in hospitalized patients and the growing interest upon hyperglycaemia management during hospitalization and at discharge. To set up an adequate treatment plan at discharge suitable for each patient, the most important elements to take into account are the etiology and prior hyperglycaemia treatment, the patient's clinical situation and the degree of glycaemia control. Due to instability of glycaemia control, it is also needed to anticipate the educational needs for each patient, as well as to set up the monitoring schedule and follow-up at discharge, and an adequate treatment plan at discharge.

Seroprevalence of antibodies to the influenza A (H1N1) virus among healthcare workers prior to the 2009 pandemic peak.

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to study the proportion of healthcare workers with a positive serology for Influenza A(H1N1)2009 without having flu, in a Spanish hospital at the beginning of the pandemic. METHODS: A survey study carried out during August 2009 (before the peak of the pandemic in Spain) in the Hospital Costa del Sol, a second level hospital with almost 300 beds in the South of Spain. The participants were workers in the following hospital units: Emergencies, Medical Area (Internal Medicine, Chest Diseases), Surgical Area (General Surgery and Anaesthesia) of any professional category. A study was made of the proportion of healthcare workers in our hospital with positive serology for the new influenza A (H1N1)2009 virus, as determined by the haemagglutination inhibition technique (≥1/40). The subjects completed a health status questionnaire, and provided a blood sample for serology testing. RESULTS: A total of 239 workers participated, of whom 25.1% had positive serology. The hospital area in which most individuals had positive serology was the Emergency Department (36.6%), while the professional category in which most individuals with a positive serology worked was that of the orderlies (41.7%). CONCLUSION: Around 25% of healthcare workers in our hospital had positive serology before the peak of the pandemic, none of them had received vaccine for Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 or had been diagnosed of influenza previously.

Uso del índice tobillo-brazo en la reclasificación del riesgo vascular en pacientes con infección VIH / Ankle-brachial index in the assessment of cardiovascular risk among HIV infected patients

Background: Vascular risk is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in HIV infected patients. Aim: To study the value of the ankle-brachial index (ABI) in vascular risk stratification in a cohort of people with HIV infection. Patients and Methods: Vascular risk was calculated in all the patients that agreed to participate in the study and clinical reports were reviewed retrospectively. Ten year risk of fatal myocardial infarction was calculated according to Framingham equation, National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) III and Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE) project score. ABI was calculated measuring resting systolic blood pressure at the ankle, that was compared with the systolic brachial pressure. The ratio of the two pressures defined ABI, that was considered abnormal if it was d" 0.9 or e" 1.3. Results: A total of 231 HIV infected patients aged 23 to 82 years (80 percent males) were enrolled. Ten years risk according to Framingham equation was 8.4 percent, 95 percent confidence intervals (CI): 7.54-9.15 and according to SCORE scale was 0.8 percent, 95 percent CI: 0.62-1.01. According to NCEP III 9 percent of patients had a high or very high cardiovascular risk. Median ABI was 1.17 (95 percent CI intervals: 1.16-1.19) and 58 patients (25 percent) had an abnormal value. Using ABI results, approximately 20 percent of patients were re-classified as having a high vascular risk. Conclusions: ABI identified approximately 20 percent of this cohort of HIV infected subjects as having high vascular risk.

La medida de los resultados clínicos / Quality of the clinical practice

La práctica clínica pretende resolver los problemas de los enfermos. Es necesario evaluar nuestra práctica para asegurarnos que cumplimos nuestro propósito. La efectividad mide los resultados de la práctica clínica péro es necesario distinguir entre beneficios de una decisión diagnóstica y beneficios de una desición terapéutica. Los primeros se miden en términos de reducción de incertidumbre y los segundos en términos de efectividad. Un tratamiento es efectivo cuando de forma favorable el curso natural de la enfermedad. Los retos más importantes de la práctica clínica que afectan a la efectividad son: la necesidad de incrementar la base científica de las decisiones, el uso racional de la tecnología diagnóstica y terapéutica, el estudio y control de la variavilidad, la mejora de la continuidad asistencial y la consideración de las utilidades para el paciente en las decisiones clínicas. Los métodos de investigación de rsultados y los de mejora continua de la calidad contribuyen a mejorar la efectividad y entroncan con los fundamentos de la medicina de alcanzar la mayor excelencia profecional y los mejores cuidados posibles para los enfermos

Gestión clínica: estrategias, instrumentos e incentivos / Clinical management: estrategy, instruments and incentive

La gestión clínica es un tema de gran actualidad que ha irrumpido con fuerza en el debate sanitario. La mayor parte de las actuales propuestas de reforma tienen en común el considerar que es necesario descentralizar las organizaciones sanitarias y que el profecional debe participar en la gestión de los recursos que utiliza en su práctica clínica. A diferencia de otras propuestas de reforma en el hospital, esta iniciativa ha ilusionado a los profecionales porque la gestión clínica habla de clínica y pacientes, ha adoptado el lenguaje de los profecionales y se fundamenta en principios éticos, científicos y asistenciales además de económicos. Representa un cambio cultural, a largo plazo, en el que lo importante es la tenacidad, la c0nstancia y la produncia para evitar el descrédito de la propuesta. Para que los profecionales desarrollen gestión clínica necesitan tener el mejor nivel de conocimiento de medicina o de enfermería, disponer de los instrumentos necesarios y un entorno de motivación adecuado