Prevalence, Predictors, and Outcomes of Type 2 NSTEMI in Hospitalized Patients With COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Data on the incidence of type 2 non-ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (T2MI) in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 has been limited to single-center studies. Given that certain characteristics, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, have been associated with higher mortality in COVID-19 infections, we aimed to define the incidence of T2MI in a national cohort and identify pre-hospital patient characteristics associated with T2MI in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using the national American Heart Association COVID-19 Cardiovascular Disease Quality Improvement Registry, we performed a retrospective 4:1 matched (age, sex, race, and body mass index) analysis of controls versus cases with T2MI. We performed (1) conditional multivariable logistic regression to identify predictive pre-hospital patient characteristics of T2MI for patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and (2) stratified proportional hazards regression to investigate the association of T2MI with morbidity and mortality. From January 2020 through May 2021, there were 709 (2.2%) out of 32 015 patients with T2MI. Five hundred seventy-nine cases with T2MI were matched to 2171 controls (mean age 70; 43% female). Known coronary artery disease, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, payor source, and presenting heart rate were associated with higher odds of T2MI. Anti-hyperglycemic medication and anti-coagulation use before admission were associated with lower odds of T2MI. Those with T2MI had higher morbidity and mortality (hazard ratio, 1.40 [95% CI, 1.13-1.74]; P=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: In hospitalized patients with COVID-19, those with a T2MI compared with those without had higher morbidity and mortality. Outpatient anti-hyperglycemic and anti-coagulation use were the only pre-admission factors associated with reduced odds of T2MI.

Patient-reported cognitive function among hematopoietic stem cell transplant and cellular therapy patients: a scoping review.

PURPOSE: Cognitive dysfunction is a known complication following cellular therapies (CT), which can be assessed through performance based and patient-reported measures. We performed a systematic scoping review to assess self-reported cognitive function measures used among adult CT patients and describe long-term results, including associations with clinical outcomes. METHODS: Library databases were searched from inception to February 2020 according to PRISMA guidelines. Additional studies were identified through reference lists and trial protocols. Two members of the research team screened titles and abstracts and resolved discrepancies. Articles that met eligibility criteria continued to full-text review, with 25% double screening. Articles were removed if they (1) were not original research, peer-reviewed articles; (2) were the wrong disease, age, or treatment-specific patient population; (3) did not use patient-reported outcomes; (4) did not separately report cognitive function outcomes. RESULTS: Of the1952 articles, 56 were included. Twenty-one patient-reported measures of cognitive function were used; most frequently the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC-QLQ-C30), which includes a two-item cognitive function subscale (57%; n = 32). Thirteen studies collected performance-based and self-reported measures and of those (n = 6) who assessed associations found moderate correlations (range r = .13-.58). Longitudinal patterns showed declines in cognitive function soon after treatment (< 1 month) returning to baseline at 1 year. Cognitive function was often associated with other quality of life measures, chiefly depression (n = 5). CONCLUSIONS: EORTC-QLQ-C30 is the most commonly used to measure, though there remain numerous measures used, including several measures with little previous validation and investigator developed items.

A Case of COVID Cholangiopathy and Literature Review.

INTRODUCTION: With cholangiopathy, the bile ducts become inflamed and have a "beads on string appearance" with elevated bilirubin. It is typically associated with primary sclerosing cholangitis but is now being reported as a post-COVID complication. CASE PRESENTATION: A 65-year-old White male presented with resolved respiratory failure from COVID-19 pneumonia, jaundice, and likely subacute kidney injury. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 cholangiopathy due to clinical picture and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography imaging. Unfortunately, due to a massive refractory gastrointestinal bleed, he was transitioned to hospice care. DISCUSSION: COVID-19 has been shown to have both short- and long-term effects on multiple organ systems. Cholangiopathy is a rare complication of COVID-19. Most of these cases result in severe liver failure and require liver transplant, similar to primary sclerosing cholangitis. CONCLUSIONS: We report this case to increase awareness among clinicians to consider COVID-19 cholangiopathy in patients with unexplained jaundice and a history of severe COVID-19 infection.

Impact of Renal Failure on F18-FDG PET/CT Scans.

OBJECTIVE: The current guidelines for 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-d-glucose PET/CT scanning do not address potential inaccuracies that may arise due to patients with renal failure. We report a retrospective analysis of standard uptake values (SUVs) in patients with and without renal failure in order to warrant a protocol adjustment. METHODS: Patients were matched based on age, gender, and BMI all of which are potential effectors on observed SUV. Thirty patients were selected with clinically diagnosed renal failure, of which 12 were on dialysis. All 30 patients had age, gender, and BMI control matches. Blood urea nitrogen and creatinine levels were measured within 1 month of the scan to assess renal failure. PET/CT scans for both the renal failure patients and controls were performed 60 min after FDG injection. SUVs were measured by placing circular regions of interest in the right hepatic lobe (LSUV) and left psoas muscle (PSUV). RESULTS: For the 30 renal failure patients, the mean LSUV was 2.77 (SD = 0.57) and PSUV was 1.43 (SD = 0.30) while the controls had mean LSUV 2.74 (SD = 0.50) and PSUV 1.42 (SD = 0.37). The SUVs from both the liver and psoas muscle were not significantly different between the renal failure patients and the normal controls with p values >0.05. In addition, dialysis and gender also had no effect on SUVs. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that renal failure patients do not require an adjustment in protocol and the standard protocol times should remain.