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The use of high flow nasal oxygen in the care of COVID-19-positive adult patients remains an area of contention. Early guidelines have discouraged the use of high flow nasal oxygen therapy in this setting due to the risk of viral spread to healthcare workers. However, there is the need to balance the relative risks of increased aerosol generation and virus transmission to healthcare workers against the role high flow nasal oxygen has in reducing hypoxaemia when managing the airway in high-risk patients during intubation or sedation procedures. The authors of this article undertook a narrative review to present results from several recent papers. Surrogate outcome studies suggest that the risk of high flow nasal oxygen in dispersing aerosol-sized particles is probably not as great as first perceived. Smoke laser-visualisation experiments and particle counter studies suggest that the generation and dispersion of bio-aerosols via high flow nasal oxygen with flow rates up to 60 l/min is similar to standard oxygen therapies. The risk appears to be similar to oxygen supplementation via a Hudson mask at 15 l/min and significantly less than low flow nasal prong oxygen 1-5 l/min, nasal continuous positive airway pressure with ill-fitting masks, bilevel positive airway pressure, or from a coughing patient. However, given the limited safety data, we recommend a cautious approach. For intubation in the COVID-positive or suspected COVID-positive patient we support the use of high flow nasal oxygen to extend time to desaturation in the at-risk groups, which include the morbidly obese, those with predicted difficult airways and patients with significant hypoxaemia, ensuring well-fitted high flow nasal oxygen prongs with staff wearing full personal protective equipment. For sedation cases, we support the use of high flow nasal oxygen when there is an elevated risk of hypoxaemia (e.g. bariatric endoscopy or prone-positioned procedures), but recommend securing the airway with a cuffed endotracheal tube for the longer duration procedures when theatre staff remain in close proximity to the upper airway, or considering the use of a surgical mask to reduce the risk of exhaled particle dispersion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 78-year-old woman was diagnosed with recurring gastrointestinal bleeding caused by the deterioration of a artificial blood vessel. The patient was admitted to the hospital after developing gastrointestinal bleeding. She had a 30-year history of blood vessel surgery to treat atherosclerosis, a disorder characterized by the accumulations of fat deposits in the walls of blood vessels. Five months before being admitted to the hospital, she had begun experiencing symptoms such as increasing fatigue and fainting spells. Despite treatment for a hernia and gastrointestinal bleeding, the bleeding recurred two months before her admission to the hospital. An angiographic study of her abdomen revealed a weakening in the wall of the abdominal aorta near the site of a blood vessel graft. Exploratory surgery revealed deterioration of the graft, which was removed.

The genetic diversities of two African populations were measured based on restriction fragment length polymorphisms of Taq I-digested HLA class II genes The polymorphisms observed for these sub-Saharan populations were approximately twice as diverse as those seen in northern Europeans. These results support the hypothesis that modern humans originated from Africa. An additional finding concerned the recently described DRB1*1304 allele. This allele, which is absent in other racial groups, was present in 40% of Gambians.This high frequency was attributed to recent positive selection.

Background: This paper aimed to describe the airway practices of intensive care units (ICUs) in Australia and New Zealand specific to patients presenting with COVID-19 and to inform whether consistent clinical practice was achieved. Specific clinical airway guidelines were endorsed in March 2020 by the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS) and College of Intensive Care Medicine (CICM). Methods and findings: Prospective, structured questionnaire for all ICU directors in Australia and New Zealand was completed by 69 ICU directors after email invitation from ANZICS. The online questionnaire was accessible for three weeks during September 2020 and analysed by cloud-based software. Basic ICU demographics (private or public, metropolitan or rural) and location, purchasing, airway management practices, guideline uptake, checklist and cognitive aid use and staff training relevant to airway management during the COVID-19 pandemic were the main outcome measures. The 69 ICU directors reported significant simulation-based inter-professional airway training of staff (97%), and use of video laryngoscopy (94%), intubation checklists (94%), cognitive aids (83%) and PPE "spotters" (89%) during the airway management of patients with COVID-19. Tracheal intubation was almost always performed by a Specialist (97% of ICUs), who was more likely to be an intensivist than an anaesthetist (61% vs 36%). There was a more frequent adoption of specific airway guidelines for the management of COVID-19 patients in public ICUs (94% vs 71%) and reliance on specialist intensivists to perform intubations in private ICUs (92% vs 53%). Conclusion: There was a high uptake of a standardised approach to airway management in COVID-19 patients in ICUs in Australia and New Zealand, likely due to endorsement of national guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: More people are surviving a first primary cancer and experiencing a second, different cancer. However, little is known about the diagnostic journeys of patients with second primary cancer (SPC). This study explores the views of patients and general practitioners (GPs) on their experiences of pathways to diagnosis of SPC, including the influence of a previous diagnosis of cancer on symptom appraisal, help-seeking and referral decisions.Methods: Qualitative interviews with patients with a SPC diagnosis and case-linked GP interviews in a Scottish primary care setting. In-depth face to face or telephone interviews were conducted, underpinned by a social constructionist approach. Interviews were transcribed and Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis undertaken. Three analysts from the research team read transcripts and developed the coding framework using QSR NVivo version 10, with input from a fourth researcher. Themes were developed from refined codes and interpreted in the context of existing literature and theory.Results: Interviews were conducted with 23 patients (aged 43-84 years) with a SPC diagnosis, and 7 GPs. Five patient themes were identified: Awareness of SPC, symptom appraisal and help-seeking, pathways to diagnosis, navigating the healthcare system, and impact of SPC. GPs interviews identified: experience and knowledge of SPC and referrals and decision-making.Conclusions: Insights into the pathway to diagnosis of SPC highlights the need for increased awareness of and vigilance for SPC among patients and healthcare providers (HCPs), and emotional support to manage the psychosocial burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]