scholarly journals The Development of Ecchymosis after Administration of Convalescent Serum in a Patient with COVID-19 Associated with Thrombocytosis

Author(s):  
Rajashree Khot ◽  
Sunita Kumbhalkar ◽  
Richa Juneja ◽  
Prashant P Joshi

COVID-19 can have an unpredictable and severe course, leading to many hypotheses regarding its pathophysiology and clinical manifestations. Haematological manifestations are a significant predictor of disease severity. The most common observation is lymphopenia with an increased neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio. Platelets have been implicated in thrombogenic events, but the most frequently reported abnormality is mild thrombocytopenia.<br /> Here we present an interesting case of a patient with moderate COVID-19 who presented with cutaneous ecchymoses and thrombocytosis, and discuss this paradox.

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruimu Zhang ◽  
Hongmei Wang ◽  
Shufeng Tian ◽  
Jikui Deng

Abstract Background Previous studies have demonstrated an association between adenovirus viremia and disease severity in immunocompromised children. However, few studies have focused on this association in immunocompetent children. This study explored the association between adenovirus viremia and adenovirus pneumonia severity in immunocompetent children. Methods We performed a retrospective, observational study of immunocompetent children with adenovirus pneumonia admitted to Shenzhen Children’s Hospital in Shenzhen, China. Pneumonia was classified as severe or mild based on the Chinese guideline for the classification of pneumonia severity. Serum samples from all the children included in the study were tested for adenovirus DNA with a quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Clinical manifestations, laboratory examinations, and disease severity were compared between children with severe and mild pneumonia. Results A total of 111 immunocompetent children with adenovirus pneumonia (60 severe, 51 mild) were included. The median age was 40 months, and 64 patients were male. Five patients were admitted to the intensive care unit, and two underwent endotracheal intubation. All patients were discharged after recovery or improvement. Univariate analysis and binary logistic regression analysis showed that leukocytosis (OR = 1.1; 95% CI: 1.0 to 1.2; P = 0.033), co-infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae (OR = 5.0; 95% CI: 2.1 to 12.3; P <  0.001), and high blood viral load (OR = 1.5; 95% CI: 1.2 to 2.0; P = 0.001) may be risk factors for severe adenovirus pneumonia. Conclusions Leukocytosis, co-infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and high blood viral load may be risk factors for severe adenovirus pneumonia in immunocompetent children. Blood viral load may predict pneumonia severity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hye Seong ◽  
Yong Hyu Jeong ◽  
Woon Ji Lee ◽  
Jun Hyoung Kim ◽  
Jung Ho Kim ◽  
...  

AbstractKikuchi-Fujimoto disease (KFD) is usually self-limiting, but prolonged systemic symptoms often result in frequent hospital visits, long admission durations, or missed workdays. We investigated the role of fluorine-18 fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in assessing KFD severity. We reviewed the records of 31 adult patients with pathologically confirmed KFD who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT between November 2007 and April 2018 at a tertiary-care referral hospital. Disease severity was assessed using criteria based on clinical manifestations of advanced KFD. Systemic activated lymph nodes and severity of splenic activation were determined using semi-quantitative and volumetric PET/CT parameters. The median of the mean splenic standardized uptake value (SUVmean) was higher in patients with severe KFD than those with mild KFD (2.38 ± 1.18 vs. 1.79 ± 0.99, p = 0.058). Patients with severe KFD had more systemically activated volume and glycolytic activity than those with mild KFD (total lesion glycolysis: 473.5 ± 504.4 vs. 201.6 ± 363.5, p = 0.024). Multivariate logistic regression showed that myalgia (odds ratio [OR] 0.035; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.001–0.792; p = 0.035), total lymph node SUVmax (cutoff 9.27; OR 24.734; 95% CI 1.323–462.407; p = 0.032), and spleen SUVmean (cutoff 1.79; OR 37.770; 95% CI 1.769–806.583; p = 0.020) were significantly associated with severe KFD. 18F-FDG PET/CT could be useful in assessing KFD severity.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (9) ◽  
pp. 606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiago Torres ◽  
Eduarda Osório Ferreira ◽  
Margarida Gonçalo ◽  
Pedro Mendes-Bastos ◽  
Manuela Selores ◽  
...  

With an increasing prevalence during the past decades, atopic dermatitis has become a global health issue. A literature search following a targeted approach was undertaken to perform this non-systematic review, which intends to provide an overview of the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical features, comorbidities, and current therapies for the treatment of atopic dermatitis. In sum, this is a heterogeneous skin disorder associated with variable morphology, distribution, and disease course. Although not completely understood, its pathogenesis is complex and seems to result from a combination of genetic and environmental factors that induce skin barrier dysfunction, cutaneous and systemic immune dysregulation, skin microbiota dysbiosis, and a strong genetic influence. Diagnosis is based on specific criteria that consider patient and family history and clinical manifestations. Overall disease severity must be determined by evaluating both objective signs and subjective symptoms. Therapeutic goals require a multistep approach, focusing on reducing pruritus and establishing disease control. Patients should be advised on basic skin care and avoidance of triggers. Topical anti-inflammatory agents should be considered in disease flares or chronic/recurrent lesions. In case of inadequate response, phototherapy, systemic immunosuppressants and, more recently, dupilumab, should be added. Nevertheless, the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis remains challenging and novel, efficacious, safe and targeted treatments are urgently needed. In conclusion, although the last few years have seen important improvement in the understanding of the disease, future research in atopic dermatitis will continue exploring gene-environment interactions and how it affects pathophysiology, disease severity, and treatment outcomes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Abdullah Ghali ◽  
Luis Salazar ◽  
David Momtaz ◽  
Gautham Prabhakar ◽  
Preston Richier ◽  
...  

Femoral-facial syndrome (FFS) is an exceedingly rare congenital disorder of unknown etiology related to maternal diabetes during pregnancy. It is characterized by variations of bilateral femoral hypoplasia and facial anomalies. We discuss an interesting case of a 3-year-old girl with FFS with an extensive surgical history who presented to a pediatric orthopaedic clinic with ankle pains and absent femurs. As this disease process is not frequently encountered, it is imperative for the practicing clinician to be aware of the various presentations. In this study, we discuss the different orthopaedic presentations in the literature and discuss various management recommendations.


PLoS Medicine ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. e1003868
Author(s):  
Shelly Karuna ◽  
Shuying Sue Li ◽  
Shannon Grant ◽  
Stephen R. Walsh ◽  
Ian Frank ◽  
...  

Background People infected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) experience a wide range of clinical manifestations, from asymptomatic and mild illness to severe illness and death, influenced by age and a variety of comorbidities. Neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) are thought to be a primary immune defense against the virus. Large, diverse, well-characterized cohorts of convalescent individuals provide standardized values to benchmark nAb responses to past SARS-CoV-2 infection and define potentially protective levels of immunity. Methods and findings This analysis comprises an observational cohort of 329 HIV–seronegative adults in the United States (n = 167) and Peru (n = 162) convalescing from SARS-CoV-2 infection from May through October 2020. The mean age was 48 years (range 18 to 86), 54% of the cohort overall was Hispanic, and 34% identified as White. nAb titers were measured in serum by SARS-CoV-2.D614G Spike-pseudotyped virus infection of 293T/ACE2 cells. Multiple linear regression was applied to define associations between nAb titers and demographic variables, disease severity and time from infection or disease onset, and comorbidities within and across US and Peruvian cohorts over time. nAb titers peaked 28 to 42 days post-diagnosis and were higher in participants with a history of severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) illness (p < 0.001). Diabetes, age >55 years, male sex assigned at birth, and, in some cases, body mass index were also independently associated with higher nAb titers, whereas hypertension was independently associated with lower nAb titers. nAb titers did not differ by race, underlying pulmonary disease or smoking. Two months post-enrollment, nAb ID50 (ID80) titers declined 3.5 (2.8)-fold overall. Study limitations in this observational, convalescent cohort include survivorship bias and missing early viral loads and acute immune responses to correlate with the convalescent responses we observed. Conclusions In summary, in our cohort, nAb titers after SARS-CoV-2 infection peaked approximately 1 month post-diagnosis and varied by age, sex assigned at birth, disease severity, and underlying comorbidities. Our data show great heterogeneity in nAb responses among people with recent COVID-19, highlighting the challenges of interpreting natural history studies and gauging responses to vaccines and therapeutics among people with recent infection. Our observations illuminate potential correlations of demographic and clinical characteristics with nAb responses, a key element for protection from COVID-19, thus informing development and implementation of preventative and therapeutic strategies globally. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04403880.


Author(s):  
Wenting Tan ◽  
Yanqiu Lu ◽  
Juan Zhang ◽  
Jing Wang ◽  
Yunjie Dan ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundA pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been spreading over the world. However, the viral dynamics, host serologic responses, and their associations with clinical manifestations, have not been well described in prospective cohort.MethodsWe conducted a prospective cohort and enrolled 67 COVID-19 patients admitting between Jan 26 and Feb 5, 2020. Clinical specimens including nasopharyngeal swab, sputum, blood, urine and stool were tested periodically according to standardized case report form with final follow-up on February 27. The routes and duration of viral shedding, antibody response, and their associations with disease severity and clinical manifestations were systematically evaluated. Coronaviral particles in clinical specimens were observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM).ResultsThe median duration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding were 12 (3-38), 19 (5-37), and 18 (7-26) days in nasopharyngeal swabs, sputum and stools, respectively. Only 13 urines (5.6%) and 12 plasmas (5.7%) were viral positive. Prolonged viral shedding was observed in severe patients than that of non-severe patients. Cough but not fever, aligned with viral shedding in clinical respiratory specimens, meanwhile the positive stool-RNA appeared to align with the proportion who concurrently had cough and sputum production, but not diarrhea. Typical coronaviral particles could be found directly in sputum by TEM. The anti-nucleocapsid-protein IgM started on day 7 and positive rate peaked on day 28, while that of IgG was on day 10 and day 49 after illness onset. IgM and IgG appear earlier, and their titers are significantly higher in severe patients than non-severe patients (p<0.05). The weak responders for IgG had a significantly higher viral clearance rate than that of strong responders (p= 0.011).ConclusionsNasopharyngeal, sputum and stools rather than blood and urine, were the major shedding routes for SARS-CoV-2, and meanwhile sputum had a prolonged viral shedding. Symptom cough seems to be aligned with viral shedding in clinical respiratory and fecal specimens. Stronger antibody response was associated with delayed viral clearance and disease severity.Summary boxesWhat is already known on this topicAs a newly appearing infectious disease, early efforts have focused on virus identification, describing the epidemiologic characteristics, clinical course, prognostics for critically illed cases and mortality. Among COVID-19 cases reported in mainland China (72 314 cases, updated through February 11, 2020), 81% are mild, 14% are severe, and 5% are critical. The estimated overall case fatality rate (CFR) is 2.3%.Some case series reported had shown that SARS-CoV-2 could shed in upper/lower respiratory specimens, stools, blood and urines of patients. However, important knowledge gaps remain, particularly regarding full kinetics of viral shedding and host serologic responses in association with clinical manifestations and host factors.What this study addsThe incubation period has no change after spreading out of Wuhan, and has no sex or age differences, however, children had prolonged incubation period. Due to early recognition and intervention, COVID-19 illness of Chongqing cohort is milder than that of Wuhan patients reported.This prospective cohort study on SARS-CoV-2 infection shows clearly that the viral and serological kinetics were related in duration of infection, disease severity, and clinical manifestations of COVID-19. Our data demonstrate that nasopharyngeal, sputum and stools are major shedding routes for SARS-CoV-2, and stronger NP antibody response is associated with delayed viral clearance and disease severity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chih‐Ping Chung ◽  
Jiun‐Wei Chen ◽  
Feng‐Chi Chang ◽  
Wei‐Chi Li ◽  
Yi‐Chung Lee ◽  
...  

Background Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy, caused by NOTCH 3 mutations, is characterized by recurrent ischemic strokes and progressive cognitive decline. It remains unclear whether cerebral microbleeds ( CMB s) can serve as a surrogate marker for disease progression in cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy. We aimed to investigate the CMB burdens in NOTCH 3 mutation carriers at different disease stages and test their associations with cognitive performance. Methods and Results Forty‐nine individuals carrying NOTCH 3 cysteine‐altering mutations received brain magnetic resonance imaging with T1‐weighted and susceptibility‐weighted images. Whole brain images were segmented into 14 regions using Statistical Parametric Mapping and FreeSurfer software, and semiautomatic methods were used to locate and quantify the number and volume of CMB s. In our study participants, the median of CMB counts was 13, with a wide individual variation (range, 0–286). CMB s were most frequently present in thalamus, followed by temporal lobe. In the whole brain, the CMB counts and CMB volume ratios (ie, CMB volume divided by the volume of corresponding brain region) gradually increased as the disease advanced. CMB counts in the thalamus and temporal and frontal lobes increased more rapidly than other brain regions as disease progressed. There were significant associations between Mini‐Mental State Examination scores and CMB counts in the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, and pons. Conclusions CMB s may have an influential role in the clinical manifestations of cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy. CMB burdens and their distribution in different brain regions may be capable to serve as a disease marker for monitoring the disease severity of cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Chiaretti ◽  
Silvia Pulitanò ◽  
Giovanni Barone ◽  
Pietro Ferrara ◽  
Valerio Romano ◽  
...  

The role of cytokines in relation to clinical manifestations, disease severity, and outcome of children with H1N1 virus infection remains thus far unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate interleukin IL-1βand IL-6 plasma expressions and their association with clinical findings, disease severity, and outcome of children with H1N1 infection. We prospectively evaluated 15 children with H1N1 virus infection and 15 controls with lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI). Interleukin plasma levels were measured using immunoenzymatic assays. Significantly higher levels of IL-1βand IL-6 were detected in all patients with H1N1 virus infection compared to controls. It is noteworthy to mention that in H1N1 patients with more severe clinical manifestations of disease IL-1βand IL-6 expressions were significantly upregulated compared to H1N1 patients with mild clinical manifestations. In particular, IL-6 was significantly correlated with specific clinical findings, such as severity of respiratory compromise and fever. No correlation was found between interleukin expression and final outcome. In conclusion, H1N1 virus infection induces an early and significant upregulation of both interleukins IL1βand IL-6 plasma expressions. The upregulation of these cytokines is likely to play a proinflammatory role in H1N1 virus infection and may contribute to airway inflammation and bronchial hyperreactivity in these patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 113-115
Author(s):  
Somnath Maitra ◽  
Kaushik Hazra ◽  
Biswaroop Mukherjee

Vitamin B12 deficiency presents as megaloblastic anemia with neurological, skin and other clinical manifestations. We present here an interesting case of anemia presenting with generalized weakness and nonspecific symptoms in a female who is a vegetarian. There was acral hyperpigmentation without any other clinical features, Investigations revealed megaloblastic anemia with low vitamin B12 and normal RBC folate levels. The patient improved after blood transfusion and intramuscular vitamin B12 injections and the skin lesions faded away suggesting vitamin B12 deficiency to be the cause of hyperpigmentation, which is an uncommon manifestation. The importance lies in the fact that this cause of reversible hyperpigmentation should be thought of by clinicians to start prompt treatment.


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