Neurologic manifestations in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Mexico City.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a systemic entity that frequently implies neurologic features at presentation and complications during the disease course. We aimed to describe the characteristics and predictors for developing in-hospital neurologic manifestations in a large cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Mexico City. METHODS: We analyzed records from consecutive adult patients hospitalized from March 15 to June 30, 2020, with moderate to severe COVID-19 confirmed by reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction (rtRT-PCR) for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Neurologic syndromes were actively searched by a standardized structured questionnaire and physical examination, confirmed by neuroimaging, neurophysiology of laboratory analyses, as applicable. RESULTS: We studied 1,072 cases (65% men, mean age 53.2±13 years), 71 patients had pre-existing neurologic diseases (diabetic neuropathy: 17, epilepsy: 15, history of ischemic stroke: eight, migraine: six, multiple sclerosis: one, Parkinson disease: one), and 163 (15.2%) developed a new neurologic complication. Headache (41.7%), myalgia (38.5%), dysgeusia (8%), and anosmia (7%) were the most common neurologic symptoms at hospital presentation. Delirium (13.1%), objective limb weakness (5.1%), and delayed recovery of mental status after sedation withdrawal (2.5%), were the most common new neurologic syndromes. Age, headache at presentation, preexisting neurologic disease, invasive mechanical ventilation, and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio ≥9 were independent predictors of new in-hospital neurologic complications. CONCLUSIONS: Even after excluding initial clinical features and pre-existing comorbidities, new neurologic complications in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 are frequent and can be predicted from clinical information at hospital admission.

Corrigendum: CXCL17 Is a Specific Diagnostic Biomarker for Severe Pandemic Influenza A(H1N1) That Predicts Poor Clinical Outcome.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.633297.].

CXCL17 Is a Specific Diagnostic Biomarker for Severe Pandemic Influenza A(H1N1) That Predicts Poor Clinical Outcome.

The C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 17 (CXCL17) is chemotactic for myeloid cells, exhibits bactericidal activity, and exerts anti-viral functions. This chemokine is constitutively expressed in the respiratory tract, suggesting a role in lung defenses. However, little is known about the participation of CXCL17 against relevant respiratory pathogens in humans. Here, we evaluated the serum levels and lung tissue expression pattern of CXCL17 in a cohort of patients with severe pandemic influenza A(H1N1) from Mexico City. Peripheral blood samples obtained on admission and seven days after hospitalization were processed for determinations of serum CXCL17 levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The expression of CXCL17 was assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHQ) in lung autopsy specimens from patients that succumbed to the disease. Serum CXCL17 levels were also analyzed in two additional comparative cohorts of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients. Additionally, the expression of CXCL17 was tested in lung autopsy specimens from COVID-19 patients. A total of 122 patients were enrolled in the study, from which 68 had pandemic influenza A(H1N1), 24 had COVID-19, and 30 with PTB. CXCL17 was detected in post-mortem lung specimens from patients that died of pandemic influenza A(H1N1) and COVID-19. Interestingly, serum levels of CXCL17 were increased only in patients with pandemic influenza A(H1N1), but not COVID-19 and PTB. CXCL17 not only differentiated pandemic influenza A(H1N1) from other respiratory infections but showed prognostic value for influenza-associated mortality and renal failure in machine-learning algorithms and regression analyses. Using cell culture assays, we also identified that human alveolar A549 cells and peripheral blood monocyte-derived macrophages increase their CXCL17 production capacity after influenza A(H1N1) pdm09 virus infection. Our results for the first time demonstrate an induction of CXCL17 specifically during pandemic influenza A(H1N1), but not COVID-19 and PTB in humans. These findings could be of great utility to differentiate influenza and COVID-19 and to predict poor prognosis specially at settings of high incidence of pandemic A(H1N1). Future studies on the role of CXCL17 not only in severe pandemic influenza, but also in seasonal influenza, COVID-19, and PTB are required to validate our results.

Trombosis venosa cerebral: lo que hay que saber / Venous cerebral thrombosis: What you need to know

Resumen La trombosis venosa cerebral representa 0.5% del evento vascular cerebral en el mundo. Sin embargo, la expresión fenotípica de la enfermedad en los países en desarrollo como México muchas veces es subestimada por múltiples factores, entre ellos la falta de sospecha de la enfermedad, la carencia de estudios diagnósticos y el patrón subclínico de la enfermedad. Desde hace más de 30 años se ha considerado a la población mexicana con un factor de riesgo de la aparición de fenómenos protrombóticos en sitios tradicionales; sin embargo, en la última década la prevalencia de trombosis venosa en sitios atípicos, como el sistema venoso cerebral, se ha incrementado. Por lo anterior, es importante para el médico no neurólogo el conocimiento de esta enfermedad, aparentemente no común, en nuestra población.

Abstract Cerebral venous thrombosis represents 0.5% of all strokes in the world. However, the phenotypic expression of the disease in developing countries such as Mexico is often underestimated by multiple factors, including low suspicion of the disease, lack of diagnostic studies and subclinical pattern of the disease. Since more than 30 years, Mexican population has been considered with a risk factor for the development of prothrombotic phenomena in traditional sites; however, in the last decade prevalence of venous thrombosis in atypical sites, such as the cerebral venous system, has increased dramatically, thus, it is mandatory for the non-neurologist physician to know about the disease, apparently uncommon in our population.

Abordaje diagnóstico de tumor primario desconocido: la fiebre de origen oscuro de las neoplasias / Diagnostic approach of unknown primary tumor: fever of obscure origin of neoplasms

Resumen: El diagnóstico de un tumor primario desconocido suele ser difícil por su comportamiento clínico-patológico, su clínica emerge tardíamente de tal manera que la integración de un protocolo diagnóstico a partir de un síntoma o hallazgo clínico inespecífico condiciona el retraso de su abordaje. Las características propias de este tumor le confieren las herramientas mínimas necesarias para abandonar tempranamente su nicho de origen, diseminándose y alojándose distante al mismo, es decir, una metástasis temprana. El desarrollo de técnicas moleculares que sobrepasan la patología clásica ha sido una herramienta invaluable para su clasificación, teniendo la intención absoluta de separar los potencialmente sensibles a un tratamiento oncológico de los que no lo son. Sin rasgos distintivos que te permitan suponerlo, ante un clínico avezado la sospecha inicial de esta entidad es la mejor herramienta diagnóstica.

Abstract: The diagnosis of an unknown primary tumor is usually difficult due to its clinical-pathological behavior; its clinical manifestation is delayed so that the integration of a diagnostic protocol from a symptom or nonspecific clinical finding determines the delay of its approach. The characteristics of this tumor give it the minimum necessary tools to leave its niche of origin early, disseminating and staying distant from it, that is, an early metastasis. The development of molecular techniques that surpass the classic pathology has been an invaluable tool for its classification, having an absolute intention to separate those potentially sensitive to oncological treatment from those that are not. Without distinctive features that allow supposing it, before a seasoned clinician the initial suspicion of this entity is the best diagnostic tool.

Perspectivas del síndrome de supresión etílica: tratamiento a la mexicana / Perspectives about withdrawal alcoholic syndrome: Mexican treatment

Resumen El síndrome de supresión etílica es un problema de salud pública de especial atención en hospitales de segundo nivel en México. Clasificado como un padecimiento neuropsiquiátrico, la evidencia actual refleja daño sistémico más allá del sistema nevioso central. El manejo de estos pacientes se efectúa en las salas de hospitalización de Medicina Interna, cuando los síntomas son severos, requiere un abordaje multisistémico en la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos. Si bien los criterios diagnósticos de la Sociedad Americana de Psiquiatría no se han modificado en las últimas ediciones (DSM-4 y 5), el tratamiento durante la última década se ha extendido por el gran espectro de opciones terapéuticas. El costo de hospitalización es elevado debido a las múltiples comorbilidades acompañantes encontradas en el paciente alcohólico. La finalidad de este trabajo es realizar una reseña de la perspectiva internacional y nacional de las diferentes guías en el manejo del cuadro, remembrando que sobre el clínico avezado recae la decisión terapéutica individualizada en cada caso.

Abstract Alcohol withdrawal syndrome is a public health problem of special attention in second level hospitals in Mexico. Classified as a neuropsychiatric condition, the current evidence reflects systemic involvement beyond the central nervous system. The management of these patients is carried out in the internal medicine hospitalization rooms; when the symptoms are severe, it requires a multisystemic approach in the Intensive Care Unit. Although the diagnostic criteria of the American Psychiatric Society have not been modified in the last editions (DSM-4 and 5), treatment during the last decade has been extended by the wide spectrum of therapeutic options in its management. The cost of hospitalization is high due to the multiple accompanying comorbidities found in the alcoholic patient. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to review the international and national perspective of the different guidelines in the management of the disease, recalling that on the seasoned clinician falls the individualized therapeutic decision in each case.