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Background Intermittent Prone Positioning (IPP) for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) decreases mortality. We present a program for IPP using expedient materials for settings of significant limitations in both overwhelmed established ICUs and particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) treating ARDS due to COVID-19 caused by SARS CoV-2. Methods The proning program evolved based on the principles of High Reliability Organizations (HROs) and Crew Resource Management (CRM). Patients with severe ARDS [PaO2:FiO2 ratio (PFr) ≤ 150 on FiO2 ≥ 0.6 and PEEP ≥ 5 cm H2O] received IPP. Patients were placed prone 16 h each day. When PFr was ≥ 200 for > 8 h supine IPP ceased. IPP used available materials without requiring additional work from the bedside team. Changes in PFr, PaCO2, and the SaO2:FiO2 ratio (SaFr) positionally were evaluated using t-statistics and ANOVA with Bonferroni correction (p Results Between 14APR2020 and 09MAY2020, at the peak of deaths in New York, there were 202 IPPs in 29 patients. Patients were 58.5 ± 1.7 years of age (37, 73), 76% male and had a body mass index (BMI) of 27.8 ± 0.8 (21, 38). Pressor agents were used in 76% and 17% received dialysis. The PFr prior to IPP was 107.5 ± 5.6 and 1 h after IPP was 155.7 ± 11.2 (p p = 0.02). Pre-prone PaCO2 was 60.0 ± 2.5 and the 1-h post-prone PaCO2 was 67.2 ± 3.1 (p = 0.02). Supine PaCO2 after IPP was 60.4 ± 3.4 (p = 0.90). The SaFr prior to IPP was 121.3 ± 4.2 and the SaFr 1 h after positioning was 131.5 ± 5.1 (p = 0.03). The post-IPP supine SaFr was 139.7 ± 5.9 (p p p 2 over the four time points measured. Using regression coefficients, the SaFrs predicted by PFrs of 150 and 200 at baseline are 133.2 and 147.3, respectively. Conclusions An IPP program for patients with COVID-19 ARDS can be instituted rapidly, safely, and effectively during an overwhelming mass casualty scenario. This approach may be equally applicable in both traditionally austere environments in LMICs and in otherwise capable centers facing situational resource limitations.

Objective To examine the association between self-reported racial discrimination and allostatic load, and whether the association differs by socioeconomic position. Methods We recruited a purposive cross-section of midlife (ages 30–50) African American women residing in four San Francisco Bay area counties (n = 208). Racial discrimination was measured using the Experience of Discrimination scale. Allostatic load was measured as a composite of 15 biomarkers assessing cardiometabolic, neuroendocrine, and inflammatory activity. We calculated four composite measures of allostatic load and three system-specific measures of biological dysregulation. Multivariable regression was used to examine associations, while adjusting for relevant confounders. Results In the high education group, reporting low (b = −1.09, P = .02, 95% CI = −1.99, −0.18) and very high (b = −1.88, P = .003, 95% CI = −3.11, −0.65) discrimination was associated with lower allostatic load (reference=moderate). Among those with lower education, reporting low (b = 2.05, P = .008, 95% CI = 0.55,3.56) discrimination was associated with higher allostatic load. Similar but less consistent associations were found for poverty status. Associations were similar for cardiometabolic functioning, but not for neuroendocrine or inflammatory activity. Conclusions Racial discrimination may be an important predictor of cumulative physiologic dysregulation. Factors associated with educational attainment may mitigate this association for African American women and other groups experiencing chronic social stress.

BackgroundStudies suggest that racial discrimination impacts health via biological dysregulation due to continual adaptation to chronic psychosocial stress. Therefore, quantifying chronicity is critical for operationalising the relevant aetiological exposure and hence maximising internal validity. Using one of the most common discrimination scales in the epidemiological literature, we develop a novel approach for more accurately assessing chronicity and compare it with conventional approaches to determine whether coding influences differential exposure classification and associations with hypertension and depression among African American women.MethodsData are from a socioeconomically diverse cross section of 208 mid-life African American women in Northern California (data collection: 2012–2013). Racial discrimination was assessed using the Everyday Discrimination Scale (α=0.95), and was coded using two conventional approaches: (1) situation-based coding: number of different situations ever experienced; (2) frequency-based coding: sum of Likert scale responses ranging from 'never' to 'almost everyday'; and (3) a new chronicity-based coding approach: sum of responses, weighted to capture annual chronicity (eg, ‘a few times a month’=3×12=36×/year). Outcomes are hypertension and depressive symptomatology (10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale).FindingsExposure classification differed by coding approach, by up to 41%. There was a positive association between racial discrimination and hypertension prevalence for chronicity coding only (prevalence ratio=1.61, 95% CI 1.03 to 2.49). For depressive symptoms, a dose–response relationship of similar magnitude was observed for all three coding approaches.ConclusionScale coding is an important methodological consideration for valid exposure assessment in epidemiological research. Coding can impact exposure classification and associations with important indicators of African American women’s mental and physical health.

Racial discrimination, a psychosocial stressor, may contribute to disproportionate rates of hypertension among African American women. Coping moderates the effects of psychosocial stress on health. Coping dispositions describe stable personality characteristics, whereas contextual frameworks emphasize flexible coping behaviors in response to specific stressful encounters. Using data from the African American Women&rsquo, s Heart and Health Study&mdash, a non-probability cross-section of 208 midlife African American women in Northern California&mdash, we estimated the association between everyday racial discrimination (Everyday Discrimination Scale, EDS) and prevalence of hypertension (HTN), and evaluated moderation by coping disposition (John Henryism Active Coping scale, JH) versus context-specific active coping behavior (Active Coping with Racism scale, ACR). There were no main associations between EDS, JH, or ACR on HTN prevalence. There was evidence of statistical interaction between EDS and ACR (p-int = 0.05), but not JH (p-int = 0.90). Among those with high levels of ACR, reporting monthly (prevalence ratio (PR) = 2.35, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.13, 4.87), weekly (PR = 2.15, 95% CI = 1.01, 4.61), or daily (PR = 2.36, 95% CI = 1.14, 4.88) EDS was associated with higher HTN prevalence, versus reporting racial discrimination yearly or less. In contrast, among those with low levels of ACR, reporting more chronic racial discrimination was associated with lower hypertension prevalence, although results were less precise. Findings suggest that ongoing active coping with chronic racial discrimination may contribute to hypertension risk among African American women.

To clarify the significance of retained stone particles after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) for struvite renal calculi we followed 22 otherwise healthy women for 16 to 52 months (mean 39 months). Each patient had persistent Proteus mirabilis bacteriuria before ESWL and received a standardized regimen of antimicrobial therapy in the perioperative period only. Of the 22 patients 19 (86%) were cured of the persistent bacteriuria. Of these 19 patients 16 had retained stone particles at the beginning of surveillance and 10 had retained particles at last followup. None of the particles produced symptoms or enlarged. However, 1 of the patients who was rendered stone-free had a P. mirabilis reinfection at 20 months and a new stone developed. Of the 22 patients 3 (14%) had continued persistent P. mirabilis bacteriuria after ESWL. Two patients were subsequently cured of the infection with antibiotics alone (1), and with antibiotics and extraction of a new ureteral stone (1). The remaining patient had expansion of retained stone particles after 51 months of surveillance. We conclude that a stone-free kidney is an unrealistic objective of ESWL monotherapy for struvite renal calculi. However, the treatment usually will eradicate the accompanying persistent bacteriuria and sterile stone particles will not enlarge during the first 2 to 4 years after treatment.

We report a case of acute hypertension and congestive heart failure during extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy in a woman with pre-existing hypertension.

Objectives. Nephrocalcin (NC), an acidic glycoprotein produced by renal proximal tubule cells and functioning as an inhibitor of calcium oxalate monohydrate crystalization, has been previously shown to have increased urinary excretion in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The current study uses immunohistochemical techniques to localize NC to cells of primary RCC. Methods. We studied 29 kidneys removed because of RCC. Slides were deparaffinized and stained after incubating with anti-NC antibody by using the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex techniques. Uptake of stain by tumor cells and adjacent normal renal cells was compared. Results. Twenty-seven kidneys (93%) showed positive staining for RCC tumor cells; 2 kidneys staining positive for normal proximal tubule cells failed to stain adjacent RCC tumor cells (7%). Conclusions. The data suggest that enhanced production of urinary NC in patients with RCC derives from cells of the primary tumor.

The painful stimuli produced by a new generation of electrohydraulic/electromagnetic lithotripters are such that continuous infusion analgesia rather than general or regional anesthesia is appropriate. We describe our experience with continuous alfentanil infusion supplemented with intravenous bolus midazolam in caring for patients treated with an unmodified Medstone STS 1050 lithotripter. Ninety consecutive treatments using this technique averaged 63 minutes, compared with 69 minutes for 14 treatments done with general anesthesia and 88 minutes for 58 treatments done with epidural anesthesia. The stone burden, kilovoltage, and number of shocks were similar for the three groups, as was the immediate stone fragmentation rate. Only 2 of 90 patients received inadequate analgesia with the intravenous technique and required the induction of general anesthesia. Continuous-infusion analgesia appears sufficient to blunt the stimulus provided by the unmodified spark-gap lithotripters still in common use.

Calcium oxalate stones are known to occur most frequently in the fifth and sixth decades of life and in a male-to-female ratio of approximately 2:1. However, previous data are from predominantly white populations or from multiracial populations that have included patients with infection stones. We reviewed a population of 444 consecutive patients (189 white, 123 black and 132 Hispanic) from 1 urban hospital treated by shock wave lithotripsy for symptomatic renal and ureteral calculi, and added a population of 260 patients treated at a university hospital in Japan. Patients with infection stones and those with uric acid or cystine stones were excluded. We found men to be more commonly afflicted in the white (62%) and Asian (64%) populations but noted a reversal of gender frequency in the black and Hispanic populations, of which women comprised 68% and 60% of the stone population, respectively. We conclude that calcium urolithiasis is more common in women than previously reported, and discuss the possible etiologies.

Nephrocalcin, an acidic glycoprotein that inhibits calcium oxalate crystal growth, has been previously localized in proximal tubules of kidneys by an immunohistochemical staining method and purified from tissue culture media of 2 renal carcinoma cell lines. A polyclonal antibody specific to nephrocalcin was raised in rabbits and the level of nephrocalcin was quantitatively determined in urine of 19 renal cell carcinoma patients (0.241 +/- 0.341 microgram nephrocalcin per mg. creatinine) and compared to healthy controls (0.022 +/- 0.012 micrograms nephrocalcin per mg. creatinine). Nephrocalcin levels after tumor nephrectomy decreased dramatically in 5 patients and to a lesser degree in 7. A specific nephrocalcin fraction that was eluted from an anion exchange column with low ionic strength was detected in urine of the renal cell carcinoma patients, and this fraction decreased or disappeared after tumor nephrectomy in 6 of 9 patients studied. Amino acid composition, phosphate content and dissociation constants toward calcium oxalate monohydrate crystals were investigated in the nephrocalcin from tumor patients and compared to that from healthy controls. Our studies demonstrate that nephrocalcin in patients with renal cell carcinoma is atypical and usually in much higher quantity. Further studies are needed to determine the clinical significance of these observations.

The vacuum erection device can be used to produce an artificial erection for documentation of penile curvature. This technique is illustrated in the preoperative evaluation of a patient with Peyronie’s disease.

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy effectively pulverizes infected (struvite) renal calculi. However, after treatment minute residual fragments that may harbor bacteria and cause persistent bacteriuria remain in the renal collecting system for months. We investigated prospectively the incidence of persistent Proteus mirabilis bacteriuria after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy among 15 consecutive women with Proteus mirabilis urinary tract infections and struvite calculi. All patients received parenteral gentamicin for 3 to 8 days (mean 4.7 days) immediately before and after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. Oral antimicrobials then were administered for 14 to 34 days (mean 25 days). Ten patients have maintained a sterile urine or experienced urinary reinfection by other organisms during 8 to 19 months (mean 13 months) of subsequent bacteriological surveillance. Of these 10 patients 9 had residual fragments. Five patients had Proteus mirabilis bacteriuria after 1 to 7 months of surveillance, including 3 with residual fragments. The mean stone size, methods and duration of renal drainage procedures, and duration of antimicrobial therapy were similar for the 2 patient groups. Proteus mirabilis was isolated from the cultures of only 3 of 11 retrievable stone fragments. In contrast to intact infected renal calculi, residual stone fragments after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy often are susceptible to sterilization with antimicrobials.

We report a case of an inferior epigastric varix as another disease entity to be considered in the differential diagnoses of pelvic masses.