scholarly journals Rituximab Twice Weekly for Refractory Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura in a Critically Ill Patient with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-157
Author(s):  
Bahjat Azrieh ◽  
Arwa Alsaud ◽  
Khaldun Obeidat ◽  
Amr Ashour ◽  
Seham Elebbi ◽  
...  

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a rare, serious, life-threatening disease characterized by microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and hypercoagulability. The etiology is a deficiency of ADAMTS13 which is usually caused by acquired antibodies. Plasma exchange and steroids is the standard of care in the treatment of TTP. However, there are refractory cases of TTP which require further management. Rituximab appears to be a safe and effective therapy for refractory and relapsing TTP. Here we report a challenging case of TTP that responded to treatment with rituximab twice weekly. According to our knowledge, rituximab twice weekly has never been used for TTP before.

Author(s):  
Milad Darrat ◽  
Brian Gilmartin ◽  
Carmel Kennedy ◽  
Diarmuid Smith

Summary Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a rare but life-threatening complication of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). We present the case of a young female, with no previous diagnosis of diabetes, presenting in DKA complicated by ARDS requiring extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) ventilator support. This case report highlights the importance of early recognition of respiratory complications of severe DKA and their appropriate management. Learning points ARDS is a very rare but life-threatening complication in DKA. The incidence of ARDS remains unknown but less frequent than cerebral oedema in DKA. The mechanism of ARDS in DKA has multifactorial aetiology, including genetic predisposition. Early recognition and consideration of rare pulmonary complication of DKA can increase survival rate and provide very satisfactory outcomes. DKA patients who present with refractory ARDS can be successfully rescued by ECMO support.


Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Tovar ◽  
Rosa Guerrero ◽  
Jesús J. López-Peñalver ◽  
José Expósito ◽  
José Mariano Ruiz de Almodóvar

We have previously shown that the combination of radiotherapy with human umbilical-cord-derived mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) cell therapy significantly reduces the size of the xenotumors in mice, both in the directly irradiated tumor and in the distant nonirradiated tumor or its metastasis. We have also shown that exosomes secreted from MSCs preirradiated with 2 Gy are quantitatively, functionally and qualitatively different from the exosomes secreted from nonirradiated mesenchymal cells, and also that proteins, exosomes and microvesicles secreted by MSCs suffer a significant change when the cells are activated or nonactivated, with the amount of protein present in the exosomes of the preirradiated cells being 1.5 times greater compared to those from nonirradiated cells. This finding correlates with a dramatic increase in the antitumor activity of the radiotherapy when is combined with MSCs or with preirradiated mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs*). After the proteomic analysis of the load of the exosomes released from both irradiated and nonirradiated cells, we conclude that annexin A1 is the most important and significant difference between the exosomes released by the cells in either status. Knowing the role of annexin A1 in the control of hypoxia and inflammation that is characteristic of acute respiratory-distress syndrome (ARDS), we designed a hypothetical therapeutic strategy, based on the transplantation of mesenchymal stromal/stem cells stimulated with radiation, to alleviate the symptoms of patients who, due to pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2, require to be admitted to an intensive care unit for patients with life-threatening conditions. With this hypothesis, we seek to improve the patients’ respiratory capacity and increase the expectations of their cure.


2019 ◽  
Vol 144 (14) ◽  
pp. 978-981 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Bertram Vogt ◽  
Barbara Sensen ◽  
Stefan Kluge

AbstractThe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome is still a very severe condition in intensive care patients. Prone positioning is known to improve outcome in patients with moderate to severe ARDS. Therefore proning in these patients is nowadays to be regarded as a standard of care. The risks of proning are reasonably low – if proning is done correctly. Therefore a method of proning in a step-by-step-approach is shown in this article.


2003 ◽  
Vol 105 (5) ◽  
pp. 549-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank ISIK

Life-threatening acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) complicates the recovery of patients with burn and inhalation injury. The study by Enkhbaatar and co-workers in this issue of Clinical Science suggests that reducing the early and robust inflammatory cascade may provide patients with protection from developing cardiopulmonary compromise seen early after burn and inhalation injury.


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