Association of anticoagulation dose and survival in hospitalized COVID-19 patients: A retrospective propensity score-weighted analysis.

BACKGROUND: Hypercoagulability may contribute to COVID-19 pathogenicity. The role of anticoagulation (AC) at therapeutic (tAC) or prophylactic doses (pAC) is unclear. OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the impact on survival of different AC doses in COVID-19 patients. METHODS: Retrospective, multi-center cohort study of consecutive COVID-19 patients hospitalized between March 13 and May 5, 2020. RESULTS: A total of 3480 patients were included (mean age, 64.5 years [17.0]; 51.5% female; 52.1% black and 40.6% white). 18.5% (n = 642) required intensive care unit (ICU) stay. 60.9% received pAC (n = 2121), 28.7% received ≥3 days of tAC (n = 998), and 10.4% (n = 361) received no AC. Propensity score (PS) weighted Kaplan-Meier plot demonstrated different 25-day survival probability in the tAC and pAC groups (57.5% vs 50.7%). In a PS-weighted multivariate proportional hazards model, AC was associated with reduced risk of death at prophylactic (hazard ratio [HR] 0.35 [95% confidence interval {CI} 0.22-0.54]) and therapeutic doses (HR 0.14 [95% CI 0.05-0.23]) compared to no AC. Major bleeding occurred more frequently in tAC patients (81 [8.1%]) compared to no AC (20 [5.5%]) or pAC (46 [2.2%]) subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Higher doses of AC were associated with lower mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Prospective evaluation of efficacy and risk of AC in COVID-19 is warranted.

A comparative study of brainstem auditory evoked potentials in preterm and full-term infants.

BACKGROUND: Preterm infants can have many neurological problems. An enormous amount of fetal brain development occurs during the last trimester of pregnancy. They include myelination, glial cell migration and the development of a complex gyral pattern. The brain doesn't show the normal growth after birth in preterm infants. Brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) are a noninvasive neurophysiologic assessment of brainstem maturation in babies. METHODS: BAEPs in 25 preterm and 25 full-term infants were considered for the study. Infants having history of birth trauma, metabolic disorders or intracranial infection were excluded. BAEP waveforms (absolute and interpeak latencies) were recorded and analyzed. Student t test was used to analyze the data thus acquired. RESULTS: Analysis of data revealed a significant increase in latency of BAEP waveform V (P<0.05). Other latencies and interpeak latencies of BAEP waveforms were comparable. CONCLUSION: The preterm infants have a prolonged latency of BAEP waveform V suggestive of a retarded myelination of the central auditory pathway. Thus BAEP could be a useful electrophysiological test to assess neuronal myelination and maturation in preterm infants.