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A 24-year-old Senegalese woman without remarkable history except anemia and iron deficiency related to excessive menstrual bleeding and sickle cell trait was admitted to our internal medicine department with 4-month fever, weight loss (−13 kg), dyspnea for limited efforts, intermittent productive cough, and bilateral metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and interphalangeal arthralgia. She was born and lived in France. She traveled previously to Senegal in 2015. She had no history of tobacco, alcohol, or drug use nor proximity with animals. She was taking no medication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: During the COVID-19 first wave in France, the capacity of intensive care unit (ICU) beds almost doubled, mainly because of the opening of temporary ICUs with staff and equipment from anaesthesia. Objectives: We aim to investigate if the initial management in temporary ICU is associated with a change in ICU mortality and short-term prognosis. Design: Retrospective single-centre cohort study. Setting: Surgical ICU of the Bichat Claude Bernard University Hospital during the COVID-19 "first wave" (from 18 March to 10 April 2020). Patients: All consecutive patients older than 18 years of age with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or typical radiological patterns were included during their first stay in the ICU for COVID-19. Intervention: Patients were admitted to a temporary ICU if no room was available in the classical ICU and if they needed invasive mechanical ventilation but no renal replacement therapy or Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) in the short term. The temporary ICUs were managed by mixed teams (from the ICU and anaesthesiology departments) following a common protocol and staff meetings. Main outcome measure: ICU mortality Results: Among the 59 patients admitted, 37 (62.7%) patients had initial management in the temporary ICU. They had the same characteristics on admission and the same medical management as patients admitted to the classical ICU. ICU mortality was similar in the 2 groups (32.4% in temporary ICUs versus 40.9% in classical ICUs; p=0.58). SAPS-II and ECMO use were associated with mortality in multivariate analysis but not admission to the temporary ICU. Conclusion: In an overload context of the ICU of a geographical area, our temporary ICU model allowed access to intensive care for all patients requiring it without endangering them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among 197 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in ICU, 88 (44.7%) experienced at least one bacterial infection, with pneumonia (39.1%) and bloodstream infections (15,7%) being the most frequent. Unusual findings include frequent suspicion of bacterial translocations originating from the digestive tract as well as bacterial persistence in the lungs despite adequate therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Necrotizing soft-tissue infection (NSTI) is a life-threatening pathology that often requires management in intensive care unit (ICU). Therapies consist of early diagnosis, adequate surgical source control, and antimicrobial therapy. Whereas guidelines underline the need for appropriate routine microbiological cultures before starting antimicrobial therapy in patients with suspected sepsis or septic shock, delaying adequate therapy also strongly increases mortality. The aim of the present study was to compare the characteristics and outcomes of patients hospitalized in ICU for NSTI according to their antimicrobial therapy exposure > 24 h before surgery (called the exposed group) or not (called the unexposed group) before surgical microbiological sampling. We retrospectively included 100 consecutive patients admitted for severe NSTI. The exposed group consisted of 23(23%) patients, while 77(77%) patients belonged to the unexposed group. The demographic and underlying disease conditions were similar between the two groups. Microbiological cultures of surgical samples were positive in 84 patients and negative in 16 patients, including 3/23 (13%) patients and 13/77 (17%) patients in the exposed and unexposed groups, respectively (p = 0.70). The distribution of microorganisms was comparable between the two groups. The main antimicrobial regimens for empiric therapy were also similar, and the proportions of adequacy were comparable (n = 60 (84.5%) in the unexposed group vs. n = 19 (86.4%) in the exposed group, p = 0.482). ICU and hospital lengths of stay and mortality rates were similar between the two groups. In conclusion, in a population of severe ICU NSTI patients, antibiotic exposure before sampling did not impact either culture sample positivity or microbiological findings., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus2 has caused a global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). High-density lipoproteins (HDLs), particles chiefly known for their reverse cholesterol transport function, also display pleiotropic properties, including anti-inflammatory or antioxidant functions. HDLs and low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) can neutralize lipopolysaccharides and increase bacterial clearance. HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) and LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) decrease during bacterial sepsis, and an association has been reported between low lipoprotein levels and poor patient outcomes. The goal of this study was to characterize the lipoprotein profiles of severe ICU patients hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia and to assess their changes during bacterial ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) superinfection., Methods: A prospective study was conducted in a university hospital ICU. All consecutive patients admitted for COVID-19 pneumonia were included. Lipoprotein levels were assessed at admission and daily thereafter. The assessed outcomes were survival at 28 days and the incidence of VAP., Results: A total of 48 patients were included. Upon admission, lipoprotein concentrations were low, typically under the reference values ([HDL-C] = 0.7[0.5-0.9] mmol/L; [LDL-C] = 1.8[1.3-2.3] mmol/L). A statistically significant increase in HDL-C and LDL-C over time during the ICU stay was found. There was no relationship between HDL-C and LDL-C concentrations and mortality on day 28 (log-rank p = 0.554 and p = 0.083, respectively). A comparison of alive and dead patients on day 28 did not reveal any differences in HDL-C and LDL-C concentrations over time. Bacterial VAP was frequent (64%). An association was observed between HDL-C and LDL-C concentrations on the day of the first VAP diagnosis and mortality ([HDL-C] = 0.6[0.5-0.9] mmol/L in survivors vs. [HDL-C] = 0.5[0.3-0.6] mmol/L in nonsurvivors, p = 0.036; [LDL-C] = 2.2[1.9-3.0] mmol/L in survivors vs. [LDL-C] = 1.3[0.9-2.0] mmol/L in nonsurvivors, p = 0.006)., Conclusion: HDL-C and LDL-C concentrations upon ICU admission are low in severe COVID-19 pneumonia patients but are not associated with poor outcomes. However, low lipoprotein concentrations in the case of bacterial superinfection during ICU hospitalization are associated with mortality, which reinforces the potential role of these particles during bacterial sepsis., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Presence of anti-human leukocyte antigen donor-specific antibodies (DSAs) is associated with poor outcome after lung transplantation. Currently, DSAs are detected using the Luminex technique, which may be overly sensitive. The new C1q assay allows for the exclusive detection of complement (C1q)-binding antibodies, involved in antibody-mediated rejection. We investigated whether early detection of complement-binding DSAs is associated with chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) and survival.From 2009 to 2012, lung transplant recipients from three transplantation centres were screened for the presence of DSA and their complement-binding capacity during the 6-12 months post-transplantation in a stable condition.The analysis included 168 patients. The 3-year rates of freedom from CLAD and graft survival were lower for patients with complement-binding DSAs (33.6% and 53.7%, respectively), as compared with patients with non-complement-binding DSAs (61.9% and 77.4%, respectively) and patients without DSA (70% and 84.9%, respectively) (p<0.001 and p=0.001, respectively). Detection of complement-binding DSA was associated with a risk of graft loss that was nearly tripled after adjustment for clinical, functional, histological and immunological factors (hazard ratio 2.98, 95% CI 1.33-6.66; p=0.008).Assessment of the C1q-binding capacity of DSA appears to be useful in identifying stable lung transplant recipients at high risk of lung allograft loss., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: H. Mal reports personal fees from Roche, Boehringer and CSL Behring, outside the submitted work. Support statement: This study was funded by Vaincre la Mucoviscidose (VLM). Funding information for this article has been deposited with the Crossref Funder Registry., (Copyright ©ERS 2018.)