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Introduction: High-dose catecholamines can impair hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction and increase shunt fraction. We aimed to determine if Angiotensin II (Ang-2) is associated with improved PaO2/FiO2 and SpO2/FiO2 in patients in shock. Methods: Adult patients at four tertiary care centers and one community hospital in the United States who received Ang-2 from July 2018-September 2020 were included in this retrospective, observational cohort study. PaO2, SpO2, and FiO2 were measured at 13 timepoints during the 48-h before and after Ang-2 initiation. Piecewise linear mixed models of PaO2/FiO2 and SpO2/FiO2 were created to evaluate hourly changes in oxygenation after Ang-2 initiation. The difference in the proportion of patients with PaO2/FiO2 ≤ 300 mm Hg at the time of Ang-2 initiation and 48 h after was also examined. Results: The study included 254 patients. In the 48 h prior to Ang-2 initiation, oxygenation was significantly declining (hourly PaO2/FiO2 change −4.7 mm Hg/hr, 95% CI − 6.0 to −3.5, p <.001; hourly SpO2/FiO2 change −3.1/hr, 95% CI−3.7 to −2.4, p <.001). Ang-2 treatment was associated with significant improvements in PaO2/FiO2 and SpO2/FiO2 in the 48-h after initiation (hourly PaO2/FiO2 change +1.5 mm Hg/hr, 95% CI 0.5-2.5, p =.003; hourly SpO2/FiO2 change +0.9/hr, 95% CI 0.5-1.2, p <.001). The difference in the hourly change in oxygenation before and after Ang-2 initiation was also significant (p interaction < 0.001 for both PaO2/FiO2 and SpO2/FiO2). This improvement was associated with significantly fewer patients having a PaO2/FiO2 ≤ 300 mm Hg at 48 h compared to baseline (mean difference −14.9%, 95% CI −25.3% to −4.6%, p =.011). Subgroup analysis found that patients with either a baseline PaO2/FiO2 ≤ 300 mm Hg or a norepinephrine-equivalent dose requirement >0.2 µg/kg/min had the greatest associations with oxygenation improvement. Conclusions: Ang-2 is associated with improved PaO2/FiO2 and SpO2/FiO2. The mechanisms for this improvement are not entirely clear but may be due to catecholamine-sparing effect or may also be related to improved ventilation-perfusion matching, intrapulmonary shunt, or oxygen delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An intravenous immune globulin (IGIV) under the trade name Gammagard appears to be associated with several cases of hepatitis C infection. IGIV is produced from human blood and is given to people with immune deficiencies. Researchers tested 278 people who received IGIV between Mar 1993 and Feb 1994, of whom 210 received Gammagard and 52 received another IGIV product. Twenty-three of those who received Gammagard tested positive for hepatitis C virus but none of those who took other products contracted the virus. This occurred even though the blood products from which Gammagard was produced had been screening for hepatitis C virus., Objective.--To determine the risk of and risk factors for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among persons with immune deficiencies who had received intravenous immune globulin (IGIV) between March 1993 and February 1994. Design.--Retrospective cohort study. Setting.--An immunology program in a tertiary care hospital. Patients.--Of 341 persons who had received IGIV between March 1, 1993, and February 22, 1994, 278 (82%) were enrolled. The mean age for the enrolled persons was 9 years, and 99% had primary immune deficiencies. Main Outcome Measures.--Evidence of HCV infection by detection in sera of antibody to HCV and/or HCV RNA by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Results.--Twenty-three (11%) of 210 persons who received the IGIV Gammagard (Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Deerfield, III) became infected compared with none of 52 persons who received exclusively other IGIV products (P=.01). In a multivariate analysis, HCV infection was associated only with Gammagard produced from plasma screened by second-generation (multiantigen) anti-HCV tests (P=.03). Hepatitis C virus RNA was detected in Gammagard, and the risk of transmission to recipients increased with increasing quantity of HCV RNA infused, from 0 for those who received no HCV RNA-positive lots to 29% for the quartile of patients receiving the greatest amount (P Conclusion.--Gammagard was the only IGIV product implicated in the transmission of HCV. Infection was associated with higher quantities of HCV RNA in Gammagard produced from second-generation anti-HCV-screened plasma. Further studies are needed to determine reasons for the infectivity of Gammagard, and viral inactivation and removal steps are needed to ensure the safety of IGIV products. JAMA. 1996;276:1563-1567

Infant vaccination for the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is more cost effective and useful in preventing HBV infection transmission than adolescent vaccination. The strategy to delay vaccination for HBV until adolescence would increase costs for each infection prevented. An estimated 2,243 chronic hepatitis B infections could be prevented with adolescent immunization, but 6,564 chronic infections occurring in early childhood would not be prevented. The cost to prevent perinatal HBV infection is $12.6 million, and the cost to vaccinate infants is $47 million. The cost of vaccination and administration is higher for adolescents than for infants. The cost to prevent each chronic HBV infection is $12,744 for adolescent vaccination compared to $6,111 for routine infant vaccination, and $900 for perinatal HBV infection., Objective. - To evaluate the outcome of immunization strategies to prevent hepatitis B virus (HBV) transmission. Design and Setting. - A decision model was used to determine the incremental effects of the following hepatitis B immunization strategies in a birth cohort receiving immunization services in the public sector: (1) prevention of perinatal HBV infection, (2) routine infant vaccination, or (3) routine adolescent vaccination. Main Outcome Measures. - Over the lifetime of the cohort, the reduction in infections and medical and work-loss costs of HBV-related liver disease were determined for each strategy and compared with the outcome without immunization. Results. - Prevention of perinatal infection and routine infant vaccination would lower the 4.8% lifetime risk of HBV infection by at least 68%, compared with a 45% reduction for adolescent vaccination. From a societal perspective, each strategy was found to be cost saving, but was not cost saving with respect to direct medical costs. The estimated cost per year of life saved was $164 to prevent perinatal HBV infection, $1522 for infant vaccination, and $3730 for adolescent vaccination. Conclusions. - Routine vaccination of infants in successive birth cohorts to prevent HBV transmission is cost-effective over a wide range of assumptions. While economically less attractive than infant vaccination, adolescent vaccination could serve to protect those children who were not vaccinated as infants.

Hepatitis B Vaccination Programs for Health Care Personnel in U.S. Hospitals HEPATITIS B VIRUS (HBV) infection is an occupational risk to health care personnel [1]. The prevalence of hepatitis B […]

This case describes the first reported use of human-derived synthetic angiotensin II (Ang-2) in a patient with decompensated cirrhosis and septic shock. The patient presented in vasodilatory shock from Enterobacter cloacae bacteremia with a Sequential Organ Failure Assessment Score of 14 and a Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score of 36. This case is significant because liver failure was an exclusion criterion in the Angiotensin II for the Treatment of Vasodilatory Shock (ATHOS-3) trial, but the liver produces angiotensinogen, which is key precursor to Ang-2 in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. Resuscitation with Ang-2 is a potentially beneficial medication when conventional vasopressors have failed to control mean arterial pressure in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: In 1986, the Centers for Disease Control, in collaboration with the Health Care Financing Administration, surveyed 1350 chronic hemodialysis centers in the United States to ascertain practices associated with the reuse of disposable hemodialyzers and the frequency of pyrogenic reactions and septicemia among patients. Reuse of hemodialyzers was reported by 63% of the centers. Centers that used RenNew-D (n = 5) for reprocessing hemodialyzers, compared with centers that did not reuse (n = 495), were more likely to report pyrogenic reactions 60% vs 13%) and episodes of septicemia (100% vs 55%) among their patients. Reusing hemodialyzers more than 20 times and, in some instances, also using manual reprocessing systems was significantly associated with clustering of pyrogenic reactions regardless of the type of germicide used. To detect membrane leaks developing after multiple reuses, air-pressure-leak tests should be performed on all reprocessed hemodialyzers.