scholarly journals Successful Treatment of Convalescent Plasma Therapy in Three Patients With Severe SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Fuzhou, China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Di Wu ◽  
Xiaolin Zhu ◽  
Songjing Shi ◽  
Fenghui Lin ◽  
Baosong Xie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Clinical Status ◽  
Clinical Manifestations ◽  
Specific Treatment ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Plasma Transfusion ◽  
Biochemical Tests ◽  
Plasma Therapy

Abstract Background Up to now, there is no specific treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) yet except for general supportive care. Hence, it will be critical to find a new strategy for COVID-19. The study is to explore whether convalescent plasma transfusion may be beneficial in the treatment of severe patients with COVID-19.Methods This is a retrospective analysis of three severe patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 and admitted in Fuzhou pulmonary hospital of Fujian province from February 18th, to May 15th,who met the following criteria: (1) within 3 weeks of symptom onset；laboratory confirmed cases or who had viremia conformed by clinical experts；（2）Severe patients with rapidly progress or the early stage of critically ill patients or who required plasma therapy were comprehensively evaluated by clinical experts. The data of clinical manifestations and the progresses of disease monitored by blood-gas analysis, biochemical tests, routine examine, radiological exam were abstracted and then analysis the changes before and after convalescent plasma transfusion. Results All three patients (one male and two females; age range, 57-65years) were treated with convalescent plasma during the study. Two patients had underlying chronic diseases, including diabetes and hypertension. The most common symptoms were fever (three cases, 3/3) and cough (two cases, 2/3). All patients were treated with a combination of two antiviral drugs (lopinaviritonavir or arbidol combined with IFN-ɑ), whereas none of the patients were given glucocorticoids. Following plasma transfusion, the symptoms of the whole group improved to some degree, mainly manifested as reducing in coughing and body temperature normalized. Several parameters tended to improve as compared to pre-transfusion, including increased lymphocyte counts (0.97 × 109/L vs. 1.08 × 109/L) and decreased IL-6 (41.34 pg/ml vs. 13.83 pg/ml). The density of bilateral infiltration on CT imaging showed varying degrees of absorption within 7days. Throat swab nucleic acid test of most patients became negative for the novel coronavirus within 3 days after the transfusion. No adverse effects and severe complications were observed. Conclusions In this preliminary uncontrolled case series of 3severe patients with COVID-19, convalescent plasma could be as a promising therapy for COVID-19 without corticosteroids and no serious adverse reactions associated with the transfusion of convalescent plasma were observed, which would improve the clinical outcomes following by improvement in their clinical status. Using the convalescent plasma at the early stage(less than 10 days) of disease could be more effective. Anticoagulation is necessary for severe patients with COVID-19 given the state of hypercoagulability. However, given the small sample size and limited study design, naturally these results should be taken with a grain of salt until replicated by other further investigation in larger well-controlled trials.

An Integrated Feature Selection Algorithm for Cancer Classification using Gene Expression Data

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 631-645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeed Ahmed ◽  
Muhammad Kabir ◽  
Zakir Ali ◽  
Muhammad Arif ◽  
Farman Ali ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Feature Selection ◽  
Gene Expression Data ◽  
Classification Accuracy ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Feature Selection Method ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Expression Data ◽  
Base Function

Aim and Objective: Cancer is a dangerous disease worldwide, caused by somatic mutations in the genome. Diagnosis of this deadly disease at an early stage is exceptionally new clinical application of microarray data. In DNA microarray technology, gene expression data have a high dimension with small sample size. Therefore, the development of efficient and robust feature selection methods is indispensable that identify a small set of genes to achieve better classification performance. Materials and Methods: In this study, we developed a hybrid feature selection method that integrates correlation-based feature selection (CFS) and Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm (MOEA) approaches which select the highly informative genes. The hybrid model with Redial base function neural network (RBFNN) classifier has been evaluated on 11 benchmark gene expression datasets by employing a 10-fold cross-validation test. Results: The experimental results are compared with seven conventional-based feature selection and other methods in the literature, which shows that our approach owned the obvious merits in the aspect of classification accuracy ratio and some genes selected by extensive comparing with other methods. Conclusion: Our proposed CFS-MOEA algorithm attained up to 100% classification accuracy for six out of eleven datasets with a minimal sized predictive gene subset.

scholarly journals Questioning COVID-19 Surface Stability and Fomite Spreading in Three Aeromedical Cases: A Case Series

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Horoho ◽  
Stephen Musik ◽  
David Bryant ◽  
William Brooks ◽  
Ian M Porter
Keyword(s):  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Posture Analysis ◽  
Surface Stability ◽  
Single Positive ◽  
Means Of Transmission ◽  
Respiratory Droplets

ABSTRACT It is well established that coronavirus disease 2019 is primarily transmitted through respiratory droplets, and there is mounting research speculation that it may also be transmitted via fomites. Several studies have shown that the virus can persist on both porous and nonporous surfaces for hours to days, depending upon the material. This article examines three cases of polymerase chain reaction–proven severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection with several additional individuals meeting CDC close contact criteria. In 1 case, 195 downstream contacts were all tested to prevent a mass outbreak in a deployment posture. Analysis of these contacts yielded only a single positive test, which could be reasonably ascribed to respiratory droplet transmission. While these cases and their contacts ultimately represent a small sample size, we suggest fomite spread may not be a significant means of transmission for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in real-world operational scenarios.

Case series: COVID-19 infection causing new-onset diabetes mellitus?

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rujuta Katkar ◽  
Narasa Raju Madam
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Cell Damage ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Onset Diabetes ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Onset Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
New Onset

Objectives: This paper seeks to explore the hypothesis of the potential diabetogenic effect of SARS-COV-2 (Severe Acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus). Case series presentation: We present a case series of observation among 8 patients of age group ranging from 34 to 74 years with a BMI range of 26.61 to 53.21 Kilogram/square meters that developed new-onset diabetes after COVID-19 infection. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-COV-2), commonly known as Coronavirus or COVID-19(Coronavirus infectious disease), gains entry into the cells by binding to the Angiotensin-converting enzyme-2(ACE-2) receptors located in essential metabolic tissues including the pancreas, adipose tissue, small intestine, and kidneys. The evidence reviewed from the scientific literature describes how ACE 2 receptors play a role in the pathogenesis of diabetes and the plausible interaction of SARS-COV-2 with ACE 2 receptors in metabolic organs and tissues. Conclusion: The 8 patients without a past medical history of diabetes admitted with COVID-19 infection developed new-onset diabetes mellitus due to plausible interaction of SARS-COV-2 with ACE 2 receptors. The resulting downregulation of ACE-2 and ACE-2 receptors expression caused islet-cell damage resulting into diabetes. The resulting observation has the potential to adversely impact significant number of the globally affected population. Screening patients with COVID-19 for diabetes routinely can help in early detection, significantly reducing morbidity and mortality associated with diabetes. Due to limitations of observational study with a small sample size will require further investigation in the form of Clinical trial.

scholarly journals Über die Situation der Jungwissenschaftlerinnen und -wissenschaftler in der Psychologie in Österreich

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakob C. Bergmann ◽  
Hanna M. Mües ◽  
Jochen Mosbacher ◽  
Lisa V. Eckerstorfer ◽  
Ulrich Pomper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Work Satisfaction ◽  
Young Scientist ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Temporary Work ◽  
Work Done ◽  
High Work

Theoretical Background: Uncertainty with respect to professional prospects, a challenging work-life-balance and health problems as well as moderate to high work satisfaction are associated with being a young scientist. This paper aims to investigate the working conditions, job satisfaction, and strain of early stage researchers working in the field of psychology in Austria. To date, no systematic investigations have examined the working situations of these individuals.Methods: A total of 97 early stage researchers – 64 praedocs (66% female; M Age = 29.84 years, SD Age = 4.00 years), and 33 postdocs (55% female, M Age = 33.39 years, SD Age = 3.41 years) – participated in an online survey.Results: The results reveal that both groups report highly demanding working conditions (e.g. uncertain career paths due to temporary work contracts, high number of additional hours of work done outside the contractual work hours), moderate to high levels of work satisfaction and moderate to low strain.Conclusion: A considerable number of potential areas for improvement become apparent. However, due to the small sample size, the representativeness as well as generalizability of the results are limited. Based on the results of this survey, possible measures to improve the current situation are presented. This article provides guidance for potential future early stage researchers.

scholarly journals Hodgkin lymphoma arising in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia: outcomes from a large multi-center collaboration

Haematologica ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Deborah M. Stephens ◽  
Ken Boucher ◽  
Elizabeth Kander ◽  
Sameer A. Parikh ◽  
Erin M. Parry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia ◽  
Hodgkin Lymphoma ◽  
Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Standard Of Care ◽  
Median Number ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Lymphocytic Leukemia ◽  
Treatment Type

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients who develop Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) have limited survival. No current therapeutic standard of care exists. We conducted a multi-center retrospective study of patients with Hodgkin Transformation (HT) of CLL. Clinicobiologic characteristics, treatment type, and survival outcomes were analyzed and compared with historic case series. Ninety-four patients were identified. Median age at HT was 67 years (range, 38-85). Median time from CLL diagnosis to HT was 5.5 years (range, 0-20.2). Prior to HT, patients received a median of 2 therapies for CLL (range, 0-12). As initial therapy for HT, 61% (n=62) received ABVD-based regimens (adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine). Seven (7%) patients received hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) while in first complete remission (CR1). The median number of treatments for HT per patient was 1 (range, 0-5) with 59 (61%) patients only receiving one line of therapy. After HT, patients had a median follow-up of 1.6 years (range, 0-15.1). Two-year overall survival (OS) after HT diagnosis was 72% (95%CI 62-83%). The patients who received standard ABVD-based therapy had a median OS of 13.2 years. Although limited by small sample size, the patients who underwent HCT for HT in CR1 had a similar 2-year OS (n=7; 67%) compared to patients who did not undergo HCT for HT in CR1 (n=87; 72%; p=0.46). In this multi-center study, HT patients treated with ABVD-based regimens had prolonged survival supporting the use of these regimens as standard of care for these patients.

Aortic Valve Intervention During Aortic Root Surgery in Children: A Systematic Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 611-618
Author(s):  
Maria Rodriguez ◽  
Anahita Malvea ◽  
Dayre McNally ◽  
Vid Bijelic ◽  
Ming Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aortic Valve ◽  
Aortic Root ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Aortic Root Surgery ◽  
Valve Sparing ◽  
One Year

Background: Pediatric aortic root dilatation is a life-threatening condition that lacks guidelines for surgical management. We aimed to analyze the data on aortic valve interventions during root surgery to guide decision-making. Methods: A search was performed of MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL, ClinicalTrials.gov , and WHO ICTRP. Citations were screened in duplicate and independently to identify randomized controlled trials, cohorts, and case series involving populations aged 0 to 18 years, who received valve-sparing and valve-replacing aortic root surgeries between 1999 and 2019. Outcomes considered included mortality (perioperative, one year, five year), reintervention rates. Results: After duplicate removal, 689 citations were screened through abstract and full text review, identifying five eligible studies. All five were observational studies evaluating valve-sparing procedures. There were 81 patients with a mean study age range of 9.9 to 13.9 years. Both reimplantation (74%) and remodeling (26%) subtypes were done. Range of mean duration of follow-up was 1.2 to 4.4 years. There was no mortality reported until the one-year follow-up period. The long-term mortality rate was calculated as 0.02 per patient-year (95% CI: 0.01-0.05). The long-term reintervention rate was 0.08 per patient-year (95% CI: 0.05-0.13). Conclusions: There is limited experience on aortic valve intervention during aortic root surgery in children. Single-arm studies on valve-sparing surgeries show excellent survival up to one year. Mortality and reintervention rates increase in the longer term. The small sample size and lack of controlled studies do not allow for direct comparisons between procedure types.

scholarly journals Histologic and Tomographic Findings of Bone Block Allografts in a 4 Years Follow-up: A Case Series

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 775-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Deluiz ◽  
Luciano Santos Oliveira ◽  
Paul Fletcher ◽  
Fábio Ramôa Pires ◽  
Justine Monnerat Tinoco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Histological Evaluation ◽  
Bone Block ◽  
Mucogingival Surgery ◽  
Native Bone ◽  
Implant Placement

Abstract The aim of this paper is to report histologic and tomographic findings of fresh frozen bone block allografts bearing dental implants in functional occlusion in a long-term follow-up. Four patients with implants functionally loaded for 4 years on augmented ridges requiring additional mucogingival surgery or implant placement were included in this case series. Cone-beam tomography scans were compared volumetrically between the baseline (first implant placement) and current images. Biopsies of the grafts were retrieved and sent to histological analysis. Volumetric reduction of the grafts varied from 2.1 to 7.7%. Histological evaluation demonstrated well-incorporated grafts with different degrees of remodeling. While data presented in this report are from a small sample size and do not allow definitive conclusions, the biopsies of the grafted sites were very similar to the host's native bone. Remodeling of the cortical portion of the allografts seems to take longer than the cancellous portion. The presence of unincorporated graft remains did not impair the implant success or the health of the surrounding tissues. This is the first time histologic and tomographic long term data of bone allograft have been made available in dentistry.

scholarly journals Commonly Used Severity Scores Are Not Good Predictors of Mortality in Sepsis from Severe Leptospirosis: A Series of Ten Patients

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Velissaris ◽  
Menelaos Karanikolas ◽  
Nikolaos Flaris ◽  
Fotini Fligou ◽  
Markos Marangos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Multiorgan Failure ◽  
Good Condition ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Scoring Systems ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Severity Scores ◽  
Retrospective Data Collection ◽  
Severe Leptospirosis

Introduction. Severe leptospirosis, also known as Weil's disease, can cause multiorgan failure with high mortality. Scoring systems for disease severity have not been validated for leptospirosis, and there is no documented method to predict mortality.Methods. This is a case series on 10 patients admitted to ICU for multiorgan failure from severe leptospirosis. Data were collected retrospectively, with approval from the Institution Ethics Committee.Results. Ten patients with severe leptospirosis were admitted in the Patras University Hospital ICU in a four-year period. Although, based on SOFA scores, predicted mortality was over 80%, seven of 10 patients survived and were discharged from the hospital in good condition. There was no association between SAPS II or SOFA scores and mortality, but survivors had significantly lower APACHE II scores compared to nonsurvivors.Conclusion. Commonly used severity scores do not seem to be useful in predicting mortality in severe leptospirosis. Early ICU admission and resuscitation based on a goal-directed therapy protocol are recommended and may reduce mortality. However, this study is limited by retrospective data collection and small sample size. Data from large prospective studies are needed to validate our findings.

scholarly journals Ozone therapy for patients with SARS-COV-2 pneumonia: a single-center prospective cohort study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Hernández ◽  
M Viñals ◽  
A Pablos ◽  
F Vilas ◽  
PJ Papadakos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cohort Study ◽  
Clinical Improvement ◽  
Prospective Cohort Study ◽  
Prospective Cohort ◽  
Clinical Status ◽  
Specific Treatment ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Ordinal Scale ◽  
Single Center ◽  
Autologous Whole Blood

AbstractImportanceAside from supportive management, there remains no specific treatment for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).ObjectiveDetermine whether ozonated autohemotherapy is associated with a shorter time to clinical improvement in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia.DesignSingle-center proof-of-concept prospective cohort study.SettingInternal Medicine ward at Policlinica Ibiza Hospital, Spain.ParticipantsEighteen consecutive patients with laboratory confirmed COVID-19 infection and severe pneumonia who were admitted to hospital between 20th March and 19th April 2020.ExposuresPatients in the ozonated autohemotherapy arm received hemotherapy twice daily starting on the day of admission for a median of 4 days. Each treatment involved administration of 200 mL autologous whole blood enriched with 200 mL of oxygen-ozone mixture with a 40 μg/mL ozone concentration. Patients in the control arm received supportive care. Assignment to hemotherapy versus usual care was determined based on the admitting physician on the day of admission, with only one of the three possible physicians prescribing ozonated autohemotherapyMain OutcomesThe primary outcome was time from hospital admission to clinical improvement, which was defined as either hospital discharge or a two-point improvement in clinical status measured on a six-point ordinal scale. Secondary outcomes were clinical improvement measured on the 7th, 14th and 28th day after admission, as well as time to a 2-fold reduction in concentrations of C-protein reactive, ferritin, D-dimer and lactate dehydrogenase.ResultsThe mean age of the cohort was 68 y and 72% (n=13) were male. Nine patients (50%) received ozonated autohemotherapy beginning on the day of admission. In unadjusted comparisons, ozonated autohemotherapy was associated with significantly shorter time to clinical improvement (median [IQR]), 7 days [6-10] vs 28 days [8-31], p=0.04) and significantly higher proportion of patients achieving 14-day clinical improvement (88.8% vs 33.3%, p=0.01). In risk-adjusted analyses, ozonated autohemotherapy was associated with a shorter mean time to clinical improvement (−11.3 days, p=0.04, 95% CI −22.25 to −0.42).Conclusions and RelevanceOzonated autohemotherapy was associated with a significantly shorter time to clinical improvement in this prospective cohort study. Given the small sample size and singlecenter study design, these observations require evaluation in larger randomized controlled trials.

scholarly journals Polyneuropathy in Gaucher disease type 1 and 3 – a descriptive case series

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattias Andréasson ◽  
Göran Solders ◽  
Cecilia K. Björkvall ◽  
Maciej Machaczka ◽  
Per Svenningsson
Keyword(s):  
Gaucher Disease ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Disease Type ◽  
Disease Manifestation ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Gaucher Disease Type 1 ◽  
Large Fiber

Abstract Polyneuropathy (PNP) has been reported to be a possible phenotypic feature in Gaucher disease type 1 (GD1), while less is known about PNP in type 3 (GD3). We performed a cross-sectional study, exploring PNP in a Swedish GD cohort. Clinical assessment and blood biochemistry were carried out in 8 patients with GD1 and 11 patients with GD3. In patients with symptoms or clinical findings indicative of PNP, nerve conduction studies and quantitative sensory testing were performed. Assessments were compared to historic controls. A subclinical small fiber neuropathy (SFN) was demonstrated in 2 of 8 patients in the significantly (p = 0,021) older GD1 cohort. A large fiber PNP was evident in an additional 3 GD1 patients but could not be ascribed as disease manifestation. No GD3 patients exhibited neurophysiological evidence of small or large fiber PNP attributed to GD3. Compared to historic controls, no significant group differences were evident with regard to neuropathy rating scores. In summary, our study does not support large fiber PNP as a prevalent manifestation of GD. SFN is a possible feature in GD1, although small sample size limits definite conclusions. Our study provides novel data, arguing against clinically significant small or large fiber PNP in GD3.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document