Factors affecting the outcomes in stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients at an Army Central Hospital / Factores que afectan los resultados en pacientes estables con enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica en un Hospital Central del Ejército

Background: Of the four Asian countries, Indonesian COPD patients have the worst clinical features, which puts them at a high risk for treatment failure. There are a number of variables and patient traits that influence clinical results as a predictor of therapy outcomes. Objective: to identify the contributing components and how much they influence COPD patients’ therapy results. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive-observational study at a tertiary army hospital involved 74 patients. A questionnaire and medical records were utilized to obtain sociodemographic characteristics and clinical data. Correlation and logistic regression analysis were conducted to identify significant factors. Results: The results showed that tumor/cancer comorbidities affected the worsening of CAT values (OR=10.89, 95%CI=1.01-117.23, p=0.049), use of ICS/LABA drugs affected the improvement of mMRC values (OR= 0.26, 95%CI=0.08-0.84, p=0.024), history of TBC disease affected the increase in exacerbation severity (OR=7.25, 95%CI=1.05-50.23, p=0.045), age from smoking >20 years affected the reduction in exacerbation severity (OR=0.03, 95%CI=0.002-0.61, p=0.022). History of alcohol use (OR=7.26 and 167.56, p=0.014 and 0.004) and comorbid pneumonia (OR=28.14 and 44.25, p=0.035 and 0.014) contributed to an increase in the frequency of exacerbations and hospitalization per year. Medium economic status affects the decrease in hospitalizations per year (OR=0.06, 95%CI=0.00-0.91, p=0.043) while the diagnosis of severe COPD and history of alcohol affected the decrease in COPD severity (ABCD) (OR=0.12 and 0.24, p=0.039 and 0.009). Conclusion: comorbidities, disease history, history of alcohol use, COPD status and the use of COPD medications contributed to variations therapeutic outcomes COPD patients. Therefore, it must be taken into account when making clinical decisions.(AU)

Convalescent plasma therapy in patients with moderate-to-severe COVID-19: A study from Indonesia for clinical research in low- and middle-income countries.

BACKGROUND: We explored the outcome of convalescent plasma (CP) treatment in patients with moderate and severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and investigated variables for the design of further trials in Indonesia. METHODS: Hospitalised patients with moderate (n = 5) and severe (n = 5) COVID-19 were recruited and transfused with CP from donors who recovered from mild (n = 5), moderate (n = 5), or severe (n = 1) COVID-19. Neutralising antibodies (NAbs) to the virus were measured at the end of the study using a surrogate virus neutralisation test as an alternative to the plaque reduction assay. Clinical improvement was assessed based on the modified World Health Organization Research and Development Blueprint six-point scale, Brixia Chest-X-Ray scoring, and laboratory parameters. The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04407208). FINDINGS: CP transfusion in three doses of 3 mL/kg of recipient body weight at 2-day intervals was well tolerated. Good clinical improvement was achieved in all patients with moderate disease and in two patients with severe disease. Most patients at baseline had detectable NAbs with median inhibition rates comparable to those of the donors (90·91% vs. 86·31%; p = 0·379). This could be due to the unavailability of pre-donation NAb testing and postponed CP administration that required communal consent. INTERPRETATION: This study highlights the safety of CP therapy. Although improvements were observed, we could not conclude that the outcomes were solely due to CP treatment. Further randomised controlled trials that cover different disease stages with pre-donation NAb measurements using locally applicable strategies are warranted. FUNDING: The study was supported by PT Bio Farma, Indonesia.