Project description:To understand and analyse the global impact of COVID-19 on outpatient services, inpatient care, elective surgery, and perioperative colorectal cancer care, a DElayed COloRectal cancer surgery (DECOR-19) survey was conducted in collaboration with numerous international colorectal societies with the objective of obtaining several learning points from the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on our colorectal cancer patients which will assist us in the ongoing management of our colorectal cancer patients and to provide us safe oncological pathways for future outbreaks.
Project description:Lung transplantation can potentially be a life-saving treatment for patients with non-resolving COVID-19-associated respiratory failure. Concerns limiting transplant include recurrence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the allograft, technical challenges imposed by viral-mediated injury to the native lung, and potential risk for allograft infection by pathogens associated with ventilator-associated pneumonia in the native lung. Most importantly, the native lung might recover, resulting in long-term outcomes preferable to transplant. Here, we report results of the first successful lung transplantation procedures in patients with non-resolving COVID-19-associated respiratory failure in the United States. We performed sm-FISH to detect both positive and negative strands of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the explanted lung tissue, extracellular matrix imaging using SHIELD tissue clearance, and single cell RNA-Seq on explant and warm post-mortem lung biopsies from patients who died from severe COVID-19 pneumonia. Lungs from patients with prolonged COVID-19 were free of virus but pathology showed extensive evidence of injury and fibrosis which resembled end-stage pulmonary fibrosis. We used a machine learning approach to project single cell RNA-Seq data from patients with late stage COVID-19 onto a single cell atlas of pulmonary fibrosis, revealing similarities across cell lineages. There was no recurrence of SARS-CoV-2 or pathogens associated with pre-transplant ventilator associated pneumonias following transplantation. Our findings suggest that some patients with severe COVID-19 develop fibrotic lung disease for which lung transplantation is the only option for survival.
Project description:Analysis of COVID-19 hospitalized patients, with different kind of symptoms, by human rectal swabs collection and 16S sequencing approach.
Project description:BackgroundFew intensive care unit (ICU) staffing studies have examined the collaboration structures of health care workers (HCWs). Knowledge about how HCWs are connected to the care of critically ill patients with COVID-19 is important for characterizing the relationships among team structures, care quality, and patient safety.ObjectiveWe aimed to discover differences in the teamwork structures of COVID-19 critical care by comparing HCW collaborations in the management of critically ill patients with and without COVID-19.MethodsIn this retrospective study, we used network analysis methods to analyze the electronic health records (EHRs) of 76 critically ill patients (with COVID-19: n=38; without COVID-19: n=38) who were admitted to a large academic medical center, and to learn about HCW collaboration. We used the EHRs of adult patients who were admitted to the COVID-19 ICU at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Nashville, Tennessee, United States) between March 17, 2020, and May 31, 2020. We matched each patient according to age, gender, and their length of stay. Patients without COVID-19 were admitted to the medical ICU between December 1, 2019, and February 29, 2020. We used two sociometrics-eigencentrality and betweenness-to quantify HCWs' statuses in networks. Eigencentrality characterizes the degree to which an HCW is a core person in collaboration structures. Betweenness centrality refers to whether an HCW lies on the path of other HCWs who are not directly connected. This sociometric was used to characterize HCWs' broad skill sets. We measured patient staffing intensity in terms of the number of HCWs who interacted with patients' EHRs. We assessed the statistical differences in the core and betweenness statuses of HCWs and the patient staffing intensities of COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 critical care, by using Mann-Whitney U tests and reporting 95% CIs.ResultsHCWs in COVID-19 critical care were more likely to frequently work with each other (eigencentrality: median 0.096) than those in non-COVID-19 critical care (eigencentrality: median 0.057; P<.001). Internal medicine physicians in COVID-19 critical care had higher core statuses than those in non-COVID-19 critical care (P=.001). Nurse practitioners in COVID-19 care had higher betweenness statuses than those in non-COVID-19 care (P<.001). Compared to HCWs in non-COVID-19 settings, the EHRs of critically ill patients with COVID-19 were used by a larger number of internal medicine nurse practitioners (P<.001), cardiovascular nurses (P<.001), and surgical ICU nurses (P=.002) and a smaller number of resident physicians (P<.001).ConclusionsNetwork analysis methodologies and data on EHR use provide a novel method for learning about differences in collaboration structures between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 critical care. Health care organizations can use this information to learn about the novel changes that the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed on collaboration structures in urgent care.
Project description:Global healthcare systems are challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a need to optimize allocation of treatment and resources in intensive care, as clinically established risk assessments such as SOFA and APACHE II scores show only limited performance for predicting the survival of severely ill COVID-19 patients. Comprehensively capturing the host physiology, we speculated that proteomics in combination with new data-driven analysis strategies could produce a new generation of prognostic discriminators. We studied two independent cohorts of patients with severe COVID-19 who required intensive care and invasive mechanical ventilation. SOFA score, Charlson comorbidity index and APACHE II score were poor predictors of survival. Instead, using plasma proteomes quantifying 302 plasma protein groups at 387 timepoints in 57 critically ill patients on invasive mechanical ventilation, we found 14 proteins that showed trajectories different between survivors and non-survivors. A proteomic predictor trained on single samples obtained at the first time point at maximum treatment level (i.e. WHO grade 7) and weeks before the outcome, achieved accurate classification of survivors (AUROC 0.81, n=49). We tested the established predictor on an independent validation cohort (AUROC of 1.0, n=24). The majority of proteins with high relevance in the prediction model belong to the coagulation system and complement cascade. Our study demonstrates that predictors derived from plasma protein levels have the potential to substantially outperform current prognostic markers in intensive care.
Project description:IntroductionThis retrospective, single-center study was performed to systemically describe the characteristics and outcomes of patients with severe and critical coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan, analyze the risk factors, and propose suggestions for clinical diagnosis and treatment to guide the subsequent clinical practice.MethodsA total of 753 consecutive patients with COVID-19 admitted to the West Campus of Wuhan Union Hospital from January 22, 2020 to May 7, 2020 were enrolled in this study. Demographic, clinical, laboratory, and outcome data were extracted from the electronic medical records of Wuhan Union Hospital and were exhaustively analyzed using R (version 3.6.1).ResultsA total of 493 severe and 228 critical cases out of 753 COVID-19 cases were considered in this study. Among the critical cases, the death rate was 79.4%, and age was a risk factor for death. Compared to the severe disease group, the critical disease group had higher white blood cell (WBC) and neutrophil counts and a decreased lymphocyte count at admission. Compared to early death cases (death within 1 week after admission), a more prolonged course of the disease was associated with a higher risk of hypoproteinemia, liver injury, thrombocytopenia, anemia, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), coagulation disorders, acute kidney injury (AKI), and infection. Higher creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels were related to early death events, but univariate and multivariate analyses confirmed only LDH as an independent predictor of early death. Notably, anticoagulation therapy was associated with an improved prognosis of critical cases in this cohort.ConclusionOur results showed large differences between patients with severe and critical COVID-19. During the course of COVID-19 in the critical disease group, the incidence of hypoproteinemia, anemia, thrombocytopenia, and coagulation disorders increased significantly, which highlighted the importance of medical care in the first week after admission. LDH could act as an independent predictor of early death in critical cases, and anticoagulation therapy was correlated with an improved prognosis of patients with critical COVID-19.
Project description:We isolated PBMC from healthy, moderate ( Oxygen supply < 10L/min), and severe (Oxygen supply >= 10L/min) COVID-19 patients after their admission to Intensive Care Units (ICU), at two timepoints (Day-1 and Day-4); and performed both CD14+ Monocyte enrichment followed by a Pan-DC kit to retrieve all Antigen Presenting Cell (APC) subsets from these age-matched patients. We performed single cell RNA sequencing using 10X technology on the single cell suspensions and constracted a high-resolution map of 81,643 Antigen Presenting Cells (APC) from the three COVID-19 severity groups. We were able to retrieve all the known six APC subsets and deciphered the altered pathways and ati-viral mechanisms, correlated with the disease severity.
Project description:BackgroundSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) could cause virulent infection leading to Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related pneumonia as well as multiple organ injuries.HypothesisCOVID-19 infection may result in cardiovascular manifestations leading to worse clinical outcome.MethodsFifty four severe and critical patients with confirmed COVID-19 were enrolled. Risk factors predicting the severity of COVID-19 were analyzed.ResultsOf the 54 patients (56.1 ± 13.5 years old, 66.7% male) with COVID-19, 39 were diagnosed as severe and 15 as critical cases. The occurrence of diabetes, the level of D-dimer, inflammatory and cardiac markers in critical cases were significantly higher. Troponin I (TnI) elevation occurred in 42.6% of all the severe and critical patients. Three patients experienced hypotension at admission and were all diagnosed as critical cases consequently. Hypotension was found in one severe case and seven critical cases during hospitalization. Sinus tachycardia is the most common type of arrythmia and was observed in 23 severe patients and all the critical patients. Atrioventricular block and ventricular tachycardia were observed in critical patients at end stage while bradycardia and atrial fibrillation were less common. Mild pericardial effusion was observed in one severe case and five critical cases. Three critical cases suffered new onset of heart failure. Hypotension during treatment, severe myocardial injury and pericardial effusion were independent risk factors predicting the critical status of COVID-19 infection.ConclusionThis study has systemically observed the impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular system, including myocardial injury, blood pressure, arrythmia and cardiac function in severe and critical cases. Monitoring of vital signs and cardiac function of COVID-19 patients and applying potential interventions especially for those with hypotension during treatment, severe myocardial injury or pericardial effusion, is of vital importance.
Project description:Background: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a rapidly evolving therapy for acute lung and/or heart failure. However, the information on the application of ECMO in severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is limited, such as the initiation time. Especially in the period and regions of ECMO instrument shortage, not all the listed patients could be treated with ECMO in time. This study aimed to investigate and clarify the timing of ECMO initiation related to the outcomes of severe patients with COVID-19. The results show that ECMO should be initiated within 24 h after the criteria are met. Methods: In this retrospective, multicenter cohort study, we enrolled all ECMO patients with confirmed COVID-19 at the three hospitals between December 29, 2019 and April 5, 2020. Data on the demographics, clinical presentation, laboratory profile, clinical course, treatments, complications, and outcomes were collected. The primary outcomes were successful ECMO weaning rate and 60-day mortality after ECMO. Successful weaning from ECMO means that the condition of patients improved with adequate oxygenation and gas exchange, as shown by the vital signs, blood gases, and chest X-ray, and the patient was weaned from ECMO for at least 48 h. Results: A total of 31 patients were included in the analysis. The 60-day mortality rate after ECMO was 71%, and the ECMO weaning rate was 26%. Patients were divided into a delayed ECMO group [3 (interquartile range (IQR), 2-5) days] and an early ECMO group [0.5 (IQR, 0-1) days] based on the time between meeting the ECMO criteria and ECMO initiation. In this study, 14 and 17 patients were included in the early and delayed treatment groups, respectively. Early initiation of ECMO was associated with decreased 60-day mortality after ECMO (50 vs. 88%, P = 0.044) and an increased ECMO weaning rate (50 vs. 6%, P = 0.011). Conclusions: In ECMO-supported patients with COVID-19, delayed initiation of ECMO is a risk factor associated with a poorer outcome. Trial Registration: Clinical trial submission: March 19, 2020. Registry name: A medical records-based study for the clinical application of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in the treatment of severe respiratory failure patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19). Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=51267,identifier:~ChiCTR2000030947.