Detection of a COVID-19 cluster by universal SARS-CoV-2 testing in a geriatric hospital and implications for infection control management.

Hospital-level COVID-19 testing strategies may require rapid changes depending on the dynamics of local epidemiology. A COVID-19 outbreak in a hospital near the authors' institution, a Geriatric Medicine centre in Berlin, Germany, prompted the implementation of comprehensive SARS-CoV-2 testing. Serial nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from all patients and staff and analysed for SARS-CoV-2 virus RNA using quantitative real-time PCR. In total, 11 of 84 patients (13.1%) and 1 of 147 employees (0.68%) tested positive. Of the 11 positive patients, 9 (81.8%) were asymptomatic at the time of testing. The data were used as the basis for adjusting local COVID-19 containment measures. Only one staff-to-staff transmission was observed, and there was no patient-to-patient, patient-to-staff or staff-to-patient transmission. Three patients infected with SARS-CoV2 died, two deaths being attributable to advanced malignant disease and one to COVID-19-associated myocarditis. In conclusion, universal SARS-CoV-2 testing revealed a cluster of predominantly asymptomatic infections, enabled appropriate local COVID-19 containment decisions and presumably contributed to the prevention of in-hospital SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

[Arthritis and pulmonary cavities]. / Arthritiden und Lungenkavernen.

This case report describes the very rare simultaneous occurrence of rheumatoid arthritis and granulomatosis with polyangiitis with the only organ manifestation of life-threatening bilateral pulmonary cavities. Due to the acuteness of the vasculitis, treatment was primarily with cyclophosphamide infusions and high-dose glucocorticoids, and in the further course with high-dose methotrexate. Routine thoracic imaging also seems to be useful when conventional basic rheumatologic treatment is newly initiated, as treatment-decisive changes are seen with a relevant frequency. The occurrence of both autoimmune diseases might be due to common genetic predispositions.

[COVID-19: A Pneumological Point of View - Long-Term Sequelae of COVID-19 - Implications For Follow-up In Respiratory Medicine]. / COVID-19 aus Sicht der Pneumologie ­ Langzeitfolgen und Implikationen für die pneumologische Nachsorge.

The long-term sequelae of COVID-19 on are not yet predictable. Radiological and histopathological data on COVID-19 and observational studies after the SARS-CoV-1 pandemic 2003/2004 suggest that in a proportion of COVID-19 patients, functional limitations due to pulmonary fibrosis and other patterns of lung damage may persist. Systematic follow-up, based on prudent pulmonary function testing, is warranted for the correct diagnosis, graduation and treatment of the underlying pathology at an early stage. This review summarizes the potential spectrum of Post-COVID-19 pulmonary disease patterns and provides recommendations for the follow-up care of COVID-19 patients in the field of respiratory medicine.

CDKN2A loss and PIK3CA mutation in myoepithelial-like metaplastic breast cancer.

Metaplastic breast carcinoma comprises a heterogeneous group of tumours with poorly understood pathogenesis. A subset of metaplastic breast cancers show myoepithelial differentiation and constitute a morphological spectrum with ill-defined borders from fibromatosis-like spindle cell carcinoma to myoepithelial carcinoma. In a series of 34 metaplastic breast cancers with spindle cell and myoepithelial differentiation, we found recurrent genetic aberrations, which set them apart from other metaplastic breast cancers and suggest a unique pathogenesis. The majority of cases (28 of 34 patients; 82.4%) showed distinct chromosomal loss in the 9p21.3 region, including CDKN2A and CDKN2B. Biallelic loss of the CDKN2A/B region was found in 50% of deleted cases. Expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor CDKN2A (p16) was missing in all samples affected by 9p21.3 loss. Other genomic alterations frequently occurring in triple-negative and metaplastic breast cancer were absent or found in only a minority of cases. Gains of whole chromosome 5 and chromosomal region 5p were observed in nine cases, and were associated with recurrences (p < 0.001). In 64.3% of cases, 9p21.3 loss was accompanied by concurrent PIK3CA mutation. Both genomic abnormalities were also detectable in adenomyoepitheliomas (4/12), which are considered to represent the precursor lesion of myoepithelial metaplastic breast cancer. In adenomyoepithelioma, PIK3CA mutation was present in both luminal epithelial and myoepithelial cells, whereas p16 loss was found only in the latter. We conclude that 9p21.3 (CDKN2A) loss and PIK3CA mutation characterize a subgroup of metaplastic breast cancers with myoepithelial and spindle cell differentiation. Myoepithelial cells in adenomyoepithelioma may show identical aberrations. Copyright © 2018 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Prognostic factors in the myoepithelial-like spindle cell type of metaplastic breast cancer.

Metaplastic breast carcinoma (MBC) comprises a heterogeneous group of tumors with difficult to predict biological behavior. A subset of MBC, characterized by spindle-shaped tumor cells with a myoepithelial-like immunophenotype, was entered into a retrospective study (n = 42, median follow-up time 43 months). Molecular parameters (DNA sequences of mutation hot spots in AKT1, ALK, APC, BRAF, CDH1, CTNNB1, EGFR, ERBB2, FBXW7, FGFR2, FOXL2, GNAQ, GNAS, KIT, KRAS, MAP2K1, MET, MSH6, NRAS, PDGFRA, PIK3CA, PTEN, SF3B1, SMAD4, SRC, SRSF2, STK11, TP53, and U2AF1; copy numbers for EGFR, c-myc, FGFR, PLAG, c-met) were assessed. None of the patients had axillary lymph node involvement. In 13 cases, local recurrence developed after surgery (30.9 %). Distant metastasis occurred in seven patients (17 %; four after local recurrence). The most frequent genetic alteration was PIK3CA mutation (50 % of cases). None of the pathological parameters (size, grade, stage, Ki-67 labeling index) was significantly associated with disease-free survival (DFS) or overall survival (OS). PIK3CA mutation, especially the H1047R type, tended to adversely affect OS. Type of resection (mastectomy vs. breast-conserving therapy, width of margins) or adjuvant radiotherapy had no influence on DFS or OS, whereas in the group treated with radio-/chemotherapy, no local recurrence or metastasis and no death occurred. We conclude that the spindle cell type of MBC with myoepithelial features exhibits a higher frequency of PIK3CA mutation than other types of metaplastic or basal-like breast cancer and may benefit from combined radio-/chemotherapy. Classical pathological parameters are not helpful in identifying the high-risk tumors among this subgroup of MBC.

Long-term survival after vascular surgery: specific influence of cardiac factors and implications for preoperative evaluation.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to identify specific determinants of long-term cardiac events and survival in patients undergoing major arterial operations after preoperative cardiac risk stratification by American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines. A secondary goal was to define the potential long-term protective effect of previous coronary revascularization (coronary artery bypass grafting [CABG] or percutaneous coronary intervention [PCI]) in patients with vascular disease. METHODS: Four hundred fifty-nine patients underwent risk stratification (high, intermediate, low) before 534 consecutive elective or urgent (<24 hours after presentation) open cerebrovascular, aortic, or lower limb reconstruction procedures between August 1996 and January 2000. Long-term follow-up (mean, 56 +/- 14 months) was possible in 97% of patients. The Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival data. Long-term prognostic variables were identified with the multivariate Cox proportional hazards model and contingency table analysis censoring early (<30 days) perioperative deaths. RESULTS: While 5-year survival was 72% for the overall cohort, cardiac causes accounted for only 24% of all deaths, and new cardiac events (myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, arrhythmia, unstable angina, new coronary angiography, new CABG or PCI, cardiac death) affected only 4.6% of patients per year during follow-up. High cardiac risk stratification level (hazards ratio [HR], 2.2, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4-3.4), adverse perioperative cardiac events (myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, ventricular arrhythmia; HR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.2-4.1), and age (HR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.2-0.6) were independently prognostic for latemortality. Preoperative cardiac risk levels also correlated with new cardiac event rates ( P < .01) and late cardiac mortality ( P = .02). Modestly improved survival in patients who had undergone CABG or PCI less than 5 years before vascular operations compared with those who had undergone revascularization 5 or more years previously and those at high risk without previous coronary intervention (73% vs 58% vs 62% 5-year survival; P = .02) could be demonstrated with univariate testing, but not with multivariate analysis. Type of operation, urgency, noncardiac complications, and presence of diabetes did not affect long-term survival. CONCLUSION: Despite cardiac events being a less common cause of late mortality after vascular surgery, perioperative cardiac factors (age, preoperative risk level, early cardiac complications) are the primary determinants of patient longevity. Patients undergoing more recent (<5 years) CABG or PCI before vascular surgery do not have an obvious survival advantage compared with patients at high cardiac risk without previous coronary interventions.

Outcome of carotid stent-assisted angioplasty versus open surgical repair of recurrent carotid stenosis.

PURPOSE: We compared outcome and durability of carotid stent-assisted angioplasty (CAS) with open surgical repair (ie, repeat carotid endarterectomy [CEA]) to treat recurrent carotid stenosis (RCS). METHODS: A retrospective review of anatomic and neurologic outcomes was carried out after 27 repeat CEA procedures (1993-2002) and 52 CAS procedures (1997-2002) performed to treat high-grade internal carotid artery (ICA) RCS after CEA. The incidence of intervention because of symptomatic RCS was similar (repeat CEA, 63%; CAS, 60%), but the interval from primary CEA to repeat intervention was greater (P <.05) in the repeat CEA group (83 +/- 15 months) compared with the CAS group (50 +/- 8 months). In the CAS group, 17 of 52 arteries (33%) were judged not to be surgical candidates because of surgically inaccessible high lesions (n = 8), medical comorbid conditions (n = 4), neck irradiation (n = 3), or previous surgery with cranial nerve deficit or stroke (n = 2). Three patients who underwent repeat CEA had lesions not appropriate for treatment with CAS. RESULTS: Overall 30-day morbidity was similar after CAS (12%; death due to ipsilateral intracranial hemorrhage, 1; nondisabling stroke, 1; reversible neurologic deficits or transient ischemic attack, 2; access site complication, 2). and repeat CEA (11%; no death; nondisabling stroke, 1; reversible cranial nerve injury, 1; cervical hematoma, 1). Combined stroke and death rate was 3.7% for repeat CEA and 5.7% for CAS (P >.1). All duplex ultrasound scans obtained within 3 months after CEA and CAS demonstrated patent ICA and velocity spectra of less than 50% stenosis. During follow-up, no repeat CEA (mean, 39 months) or CAS (mean, 26 months) repair demonstrated ICA occlusion, but two patients (8%) who underwent repeat CEA and 4 patients (8%) who underwent CAS required balloon or stent angioplasty because of 80% RCS. At last follow-up, no patient had ipsilateral stroke and all ICA remain patent. At duplex scanning, stenosis-free (<50% diameter reduction) ICA patency at 36 months was 75% after repeat CEA and 57% after CAS (P =.26, log-rank test). CONCLUSIONS: Carotid angioplasty for treatment of high-grade stenotic ICA after CEA resulted in similar anatomic and neurologic outcomes compared with open surgical repair. Most lesions are amenable to endovascular therapy, and CAS enabled treatment in patients judged not to be suitable surgical candidates. Duplex scanning surveillance after repeat CEA or CAS is recommended, because stenosis can recur after either secondary procedure.