Gastric varicella: two cases in cancer patients.

Gastric involvement with the varicella-zoster virus is an uncommon clinical condition where early suspicion and diagnosis are important to prevent the consequences deriving from its high morbidity and mortality, which in immunocompromised patients oscillate between 9% and 41% according to the various series. Two cases of gastric involvement with the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) in two patients with blood cancer are reported below. Gastric lesions are usually preceded by typical papulovesicular skin lesions. When gastric involvement is the first symptom of the disease its diagnosis and management may be delayed, which may entail severe consequences for immunocompromised patients. It is therefore that we suggest its inclusion in the algorithm for immunocompromised patients with abdominal pain and ulcer-like endoscopic lesions.

Host response dysregulations amongst adults hospitalized by influenza A H1N1 virus pneumonia: A prospective multicenter cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Limited knowledge exists on how early host response impacts outcomes in influenza pneumonia. METHODS: This study assessed what was the contribution of host immune response at the emergency department on hospital mortality amongst adults with influenza A H1N1pdm09 pneumonia and whether early stratification by immune host response anticipates the risk of death. This is a secondary analysis from a prospective, observational, multicenter cohort comparing 75 adults requiring intensive care with 38 hospitalized in medical wards. Different immune response biomarkers within 24 h of hospitalization and their association with hospital mortality were assessed. RESULTS: Fifty-three were discharged alive. Non-survivors were associated (p<0.05) with lower lymphocytes (751 vs. 387), monocytes (450 vs. 220) expression of HLA-DR (1,662 vs. 962) and higher IgM levels (178 vs. 152;p<0.01). Lymphocyte subpopulations amongst non-survivors showed a significantly (p<0.05) lower number of TCD3+ (247.2 vs. 520.8), TCD4+ (150.3 vs. 323.6), TCD8+ (95.3 vs. 151.4) and NKCD56+ (21.9 vs. 91.4). Number of lymphocytes, monocytes and NKCD56+ predicted hospital mortality (AUC 0.854). Hospital mortality was independently associated with low HLA-DR values, low number of NKCD56+ cells, and high IgM levels, in a Cox-proportional hazard analysis. A second model, documented that hospital mortality was independently associated with a phenotype combining immunoparalysis with hyperinflammation (HR 5.53; 95%CI 2.16-14.14), after adjusting by predicted mortality. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that amongst influenza pneumonia, presence of immunoparalysis was a major mortality driver. Influenza heterogeneity was partly explained by early specific host response dysregulations which should be considered to design personalized approaches of adjunctive therapy.

Plasma Levels of Mid-Regional Proadrenomedullin Accurately Identify H1N1pdm09 Influenza Virus Patients with Risk of Intensive Care Admission and Mortality in the Emergency Department.

Early identification of severe viral pneumonia in influenza virus A (H1N1pdm09) patients is extremely important for prompt admission to the ICU. The objective is to evaluate the usefulness of MR-proadrenomedullin (MR-proADM) compared to C reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), and ferritin in the prognosis of influenza A pneumonia. This prospective, observational, multicenter study included one hundred thirteen patients with confirmed influenza virus A (H1N1pdm09) admitted to an Emergency Department and ICUs of six hospitals in Spain. Measurements and Main Results: one-hundred thirteen patients with confirmed influenza virus A (H1N1pdm09) were enrolled. Seventy-five subjects (mortality 29.3%) with severe pneumonia caused by influenza A H1N1pdm09 virus (H1N1vIPN) were compared with 38 controls (CG).The median MR-proADM levels at hospital admission were 1.2 nmol/L (IQR (0.8-2.6) vs. 0.5 nmol/L (IQR 0.2-0.9) in the CG (p = 0.01), and PCT levels were 0.43 µg/L (IQR 0.2-1.2) in the H1N1vIPN group and 0.1 µg/L (IQR 0.1-0.2) in the CG (p < 0.01). CRP levels at admission were 15.5 mg/dL(IQR 9.2-24.9) in H1N1vIPN and 8.6 mg/dL(IQR 3-17.3) in the CG (p < 0.01). Ferritin levels at admission were 558.1 ng/mL(IQR 180-1880) in H1N1vIPN and 167.7 ng/mL(IQR 34.8-292.9) in the CG (p < 0.01). A breakpoint for hospital admission of MR-proADM of 1.1 nmol/L showed a sensitivity of 55% and a specificity of 90% (AUC-ROC0.822). Non-survivors showed higher MR-proADM levels: median of 2.5 nmol/L vs. 0.9 nmol/L among survivors (p < 0.01). PCT, CRP, and ferritin levels also showed significant differences in predicting mortality. The MR-proADM AUC-ROC for mortality was 0.853 (p < 0.01). In a Cox proportional hazards model, MR-proADM levels > 1.2 nmol/L at hospital admission were significant predictive factors for ICU and 90-day mortality (HR: 1.3). Conclusions: the initial MR-proADM, ferritin, CRP, and PCT levels effectively determine adverse outcomes and risk of ICU admission and mortality in patients with influenza virus pneumonia. MR-proADM has the highest potency for survival prediction.

Development and validation of a scoring index to predict the presence of lesions in capsule endoscopy in patients with suspected Crohn's disease of the small bowel: a Spanish multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: Capsule endoscopy (CE) is the first-line investigation in cases of suspected Crohn's disease (CD) of the small bowel, but the factors associated with a higher diagnostic yield remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: Our aim is to develop and validate a scoring index to assess the risk of the patients in this setting on the basis of biomarkers. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data on fecal calprotectin, C-reactive protein, and other biomarkers from a population of 124 patients with suspected CD of the small bowel studied by CE and included in a PhD study were used to build a scoring index. This was first used on this population (internal validation process) and after that on a different set of patients from a multicenter study (external validation process). RESULTS: An index was designed in which every biomarker is assigned a score. Three risk groups have been established (low, intermediate, and high). In the internal validation analysis (124 individuals), patients had a 10, 46.5, and 81% probability of showing inflammatory lesions in CE in the low-risk, intermediate-risk, and high-risk groups, respectively. In the external validation analysis, including 410 patients from 12 Spanish hospitals, this probability was 15.8, 49.7, and 80.6% for the low-risk, intermediate-risk, and high-risk groups, respectively. CONCLUSION: Results from the internal validation process show that the scoring index is coherent, and results from the external validation process confirm its reliability. This index can be a useful tool for selecting patients before CE studies in cases of suspected CD of the small bowel.

[Pancreatic tuberculosis with duodenal fistula]. / Tuberculosis pancreática con fistulización a duodeno.

Tuberculosis is a common infection worldwide. In developed countries, the incidence of this disease was low until a few years ago. However, due to the rise in immigration and HIV infection, the frequency of tuberculosis has recently shown a marked increase. Although the most frequent location of tuberculosis infection continues to be respiratory, infection in other sites, such as musculoskeletal, genitourinary, neurological and abdominal areas, has recently become more common. Abdominal infection, the most frequently described extrapulmonary localization, commonly affects the spleen, liver, ileocecal region, peritoneum, and regional lymph nodes. Tuberculosis of the pancreas is considered a rare entity.