Comparison of clinical characteristics and outcomes of critically ill adults with SARS-CoV-2 infection during Delta and Omicron variant predominance periods: a single-hospital retrospective cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Initial reports suggest the B.1.1.529 (Omicron) variant of SARS-CoV-2 causes less severe disease compared with the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant, though more widespread vaccination contributed to these findings. Little is known about clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection requiring intensive care during periods of Delta and Omicron variant predominance. AIM: To examine and compare characteristics of critically ill adults with SARS-CoV-2 infection during periods of Delta and Omicron variant predominance. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of critically ill adults with SARS-CoV-2 infection at one academic hospital in Los Angeles during Delta (15 July 2021-23 September 2021) and Omicron (21 December 2021-27 January 2022) predominance. Patient characteristics were compared between Delta-period and Omicron-period hospitalisations, overall and stratified by vaccination status. RESULTS: 79 adults required intensive care during the Delta predominance period and 116 during the Omicron predominance period. We found similar proportions of intensive care unit admissions occurring in fully vaccinated patients between the two periods, despite Los Angeles County data revealing an almost 60% increase in the proportion of SARS-CoV-2 hospitalisations occurring in fully vaccinated persons. There was no difference in the need for invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). Among those who required IMV, the median duration of IMV was shorter overall (Delta=18 days; Omicron=8 days; p=0.006) and among unvaccinated persons (Delta=19 days; Omicron=8.5 days; p=0.018). Among unvaccinated persons, the median intensive care unit length of stay was shorter (Delta=12 days; Omicron=5 days; p=0.037) during Omicron predominance. There was no difference in the proportion of patients who died while hospitalised. CONCLUSIONS: In this single-hospital study, critically ill patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection experienced less severe respiratory disease during Omicron predominance, likely due to reduced variant-specific virulence. Vaccination likely reduced development of critical illness in adults with SARS-CoV-2 infection during Omicron predominance.

Psychological Morbidity After COVID-19 Critical Illness.

Survivors of ICU hospitalizations often experience severe and debilitating symptoms long after critical illness has resolved. Many patients experience notable psychiatric sequelae such as depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that may persist for months to years after discharge. The COVID-19 pandemic has produced large numbers of critical illness survivors, warranting deeper understanding of psychological morbidity after COVID-19 critical illness. Many patients with critical illness caused by COVID-19 experience substantial post-ICU psychological sequelae mediated by specific pathophysiologic, iatrogenic, and situational risk factors. Existing and novel interventions focused on minimizing psychiatric morbidity need to be further investigated to improve critical care survivorship after COVID-19 illness. This review proposes a framework to conceptualize three domains of risk factors (pathophysiologic, iatrogenic, and situational) associated with psychological morbidity caused by COVID-19 critical illness: (1) direct and indirect effects of the COVID-19 virus in the brain; (2) iatrogenic complications of ICU care that may disproportionately affect patients with COVID-19; and (3) social isolation that may worsen psychological morbidity. In addition, we review current interventions to minimize psychological complications after critical illness.

Pembrolizumab-Induced Diabetic Ketoacidosis: A Review of Critical Care Case.

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a commonly encountered diagnosis in the general inpatient and intensive care unit settings. We report a rare case of pembrolizumab-induced DKA in a patient with bladder carcinoma in situ with no prior diagnosis of diabetes. Our case highlights the importance of understanding immune-related adverse events (IRAEs) as immunotherapy is becoming a mainstay of treatment for a variety of diagnoses. The rare side effect of DKA presented in this case is compared to the classical presentation of DKA secondary to type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). We found that pembrolizumab-induced DKA presented with fewer symptoms than T1DM-induced DKA and did not present with serum antibodies that are typically present in T1DM. While management of DKA in the acute setting is unchanged regardless of the precipitating factor, this case demonstrates the importance of identifying the precipitant in order to pursue the appropriate diagnostic workup and long-term management.

Sacral anatomical interspace landmark for lumbar puncture in pregnancy: A randomized trial.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the sacral anatomical interspace landmark (SAIL) technique is more accurate than the classic intercristal line (ICL) technique in pregnant patients and to assess the percentage of clinical determinations above the third lumbar vertebra. METHODS: In this prospective, randomized, open-label trial, there were 110 singleton pregnant patients with gestational age greater than 37 weeks included. Selection procedure was a convenience sample of pregnant patients who presented for office visits or vaginal or cesarean delivery between March 15 and July 31, 2018, at a single-center obstetric tertiary care university hospital. Both techniques were evaluated by 2 physicians independently assessing each method. Before data collection, we hypothesized that the SAIL technique would be more accurate than the ICL technique in determining the L4-L5 interspace, and that the SAIL technique would produce more estimations below the third lumbar vertebra than the ICL technique. Therefore, the primary outcome was accuracy in identifying the L4-L5 lumbar interspace with SAIL vs ICL. The secondary outcome was difference in clinical assessments above the third lumbar vertebra. Both outcomes were measured via ultrasonography. RESULTS: Patients were 31 ± 5 years of age (mean ± SD) and had body mass index of 31.8 ± 5.7 kg/m2 and gestational age of 38.8 ± 1.1 weeks. A total of 110 patients were analyzed. SAIL correctly identified the L4-L5 interspace 49% of the time vs 8% using ICL (p < 0.0001). Estimations above L3 were 1% for SAIL vs 31% for ICL (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows improved accuracy in identifying intervertebral space using the SAIL technique; this may prevent direct mechanical trauma to the conus medullaris when lumbar punctures are performed in pregnancy. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: NCT03433612.

Normal Range for Maternal Lactic Acid during Pregnancy and Labor: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.

OBJECTIVE: This article systematically reviews the literature to establish the normal range of lactic acid in healthy pregnant women. STUDY DESIGN: Ovid MEDLINE, Embase.com, and Clinicaltrials.gov were searched to identify studies that reported maternal lactic acid in healthy pregnant women. Pooled aggregate means and two standard deviations for each time period were computed using the inverse variance weighting technique. Analyses were performed separately for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trimesters, scheduled cesarean delivery, early labor, active labor, 2nd stage of labor, and delivery. RESULTS: Overall, 22 studies met the inclusion criteria. There were 1,193 patients, and 2,008 observations identified. All time periods had maternal venous lactic acid aggregate means and two-standard-deviation ranges less than 4 mmol/L. Outside of labor, all ranges were less than 2 mmol/L. All labor periods had a range higher than 2 mmol/L. While the pooled ranges were less than 4 mmol/L, many individual studies reported ranges > 4 mmol/L during labor. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis suggests that venous lactic acid levels can be used as a screening tool in pregnant women just as the test would be used in nonpregnant women, except that elevations may be seen during labor, especially later in labor when there is maximal skeletal muscle contraction.

Oncogenic Role of THOR, a Conserved Cancer/Testis Long Non-coding RNA.

Large-scale transcriptome sequencing efforts have vastly expanded the catalog of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) with varying evolutionary conservation, lineage expression, and cancer specificity. Here, we functionally characterize a novel ultraconserved lncRNA, THOR (ENSG00000226856), which exhibits expression exclusively in testis and a broad range of human cancers. THOR knockdown and overexpression in multiple cell lines and animal models alters cell or tumor growth supporting an oncogenic role. We discovered a conserved interaction of THOR with IGF2BP1 and show that THOR contributes to the mRNA stabilization activities of IGF2BP1. Notably, transgenic THOR knockout produced fertilization defects in zebrafish and also conferred a resistance to melanoma onset. Likewise, ectopic expression of human THOR in zebrafish accelerated the onset of melanoma. THOR represents a novel class of functionally important cancer/testis lncRNAs whose structure and function have undergone positive evolutionary selection.

Patterns of Opioid Prescription and Use After Cesarean Delivery.

OBJECTIVE: To define the amount of opioid analgesics prescribed and consumed after discharge after cesarean delivery. METHODS: We conducted a survey at six academic medical centers in the United States from September 2014 to March 2016. Women who had undergone a cesarean delivery were contacted by phone 2 weeks after discharge and participated in a structured interview about the opioid prescription they received on discharge and their oral opioid intake while at home. RESULTS: A total of 720 women were enrolled; of these, 615 (85.4%) filled an opioid prescription. The median number of dispensed opioid tablets was 40 (interquartile range 30-40), the median number consumed was 20 (interquartile range 8-30), and leftover was 15 (interquartile range 3-26). Of those with leftover opioids, 95.3% had not disposed of the excess medication at the time of the interview. There was an association between a larger number of tablets dispensed and the number consumed independent of patient characteristics. The amount of opioids dispensed did not correlate with patient satisfaction, pain control, or the need to refill the opioid prescription. CONCLUSION: The amount of opioid prescribed after cesarean delivery generally exceeds the amount consumed by a significant margin, leading to substantial amounts of leftover opioid medication. Lower opioid prescription correlates with lower consumption without a concomitant increase in pain scores or satisfaction.

Suprasellar Germinoma Presenting with Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis: Case Report.

Slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) is a fracture that results from displacement of the proximal femoral epiphysis from the femoral neck. SCFE can be caused by various endocrinopathies that lead to bone weakening in both adult and pediatric patients. We report a rare case of suprasellar germinoma presenting with SCFE in an 11-year-old female patient. The findings of this case further support the need to consider pituitary lesions as the underlying cause of endocrine deficiences leading to SCFE.