Acute Kidney Injury in Very Low Birth Weight Infants: A Major Morbidity and Mortality Risk Factor.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Very low birth weight (VLBW) infants are at high risk of developing acute kidney injury (AKI), presumably secondary to low kidney reserves, stressful postnatal events, and drug exposures. Our study aimed to identify the prevalence, risk factors, and outcomes associated with AKI in VLBW infants. STUDY DESIGN: Records of all VLBW infants admitted to two medical campuses between January 2019 and June 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. AKI was classified using the modified KDIGO definition to include only serum creatinine. Risk factors and composite outcomes were compared between infants with and without AKI. We evaluated the main predictors of AKI and death with forward stepwise regression analysis. RESULTS: 152 VLBW infants were enrolled. 21% of them developed AKI. Based on the multivariable analysis, the most significant predictors of AKI were the use of vasopressors, patent ductus arteriosus, and bloodstream infection. AKI had a strong and independent association with neonatal mortality. CONCLUSIONS: AKI is common in VLBW infants and is a significant risk factor for mortality. Efforts to prevent AKI are necessary to prevent its harmful effects.

Prevalence of Antibiotic Tolerance and Risk for Reinfection Among Escherichia coli Bloodstream Isolates: A Prospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Tolerance is the ability of bacteria to survive transient exposure to high concentrations of a bactericidal antibiotic without a change in the minimal inhibitory concentration, thereby limiting the efficacy of antimicrobials. The study sought to determine the prevalence of tolerance in a prospective cohort of E. coli bloodstream infection and to explore the association of tolerance with reinfection risk. METHODS: Tolerance, determined by the Tolerance Disk Test (TDtest), was tested in a prospective cohort of consecutive patient-unique E. coli bloodstream isolates and a collection of strains from patients who had recurrent blood cultures with E. coli (cohorts 1 and 2, respectively). Selected isolates were further analyzed using time-dependent killing and typed using whole-genome sequencing. Covariate data were retrieved from electronic medical records. The association between tolerance and reinfection was assessed by the Cox proportional-hazards regression and a Poisson regression models. RESULTS: In cohort 1, 8/94 isolates (8.5%) were tolerant. Using multivariate analysis, it was determined that the risk for reinfection in the patients with tolerant index bacteremia was significantly higher than for patients with a nontolerant strain, hazard ratio, 3.98 (95% confidence interval, 1.32-12.01). The prevalence of tolerance among cohort 2 was higher than in cohort 1, 6/21(28.6%) vs 8/94 (8.5%), respectively (P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: Tolerant E. coli are frequently encountered among bloodstream isolates and are associated with an increased risk of reinfection. The TDtest appears to be a practicable approach for tolerance detection and could improve future patient management.

Anatomical and functional connectivity in the default mode network of post-traumatic stress disorder patients after civilian and military-related trauma.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by unwanted intrusive thoughts and hyperarousal at rest. As these core symptoms reflect disturbance in resting-state mechanisms, we investigated the functional and anatomical involvement of the default mode network (DMN) in this disorder. The relation between symptomatology and trauma characteristics was considered. Twenty PTSD patients and 20 matched trauma-exposed controls that were exposed to a similar traumatic event were recruited for this study. In each group, 10 patients were exposed to military trauma, and 10 to civilian trauma. PTSD, anxiety, and depression symptom severity were assessed. DMN maps were identified in resting-state scans using independent component analysis. Regions of interest (medial prefrontal, precuneus, and bilateral inferior parietal) were defined and average z-scores were extracted for use in the statistical analysis. The medial prefrontal and the precuneus regions were used for cingulum tractography whose integrity was measured and compared between groups. Similar functional and anatomical connectivity patterns were identified in the DMN of PTSD patients and trauma-exposed controls. In the PTSD group, functional and anatomical connectivity parameters were strongly correlated with clinical measures, and there was evidence of coupling between the anatomical and functional properties. Type of trauma and time from trauma were found to modulate connectivity patterns. To conclude, anatomical and functional connectivity patterns are related to PTSD symptoms and trauma characteristics influence connectivity beyond clinical symptoms. Hum Brain Mapp 37:589-599, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.