An improved index for diagnosis and mortality prediction in malignancy associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a life-threatening inflammatory syndrome that may complicate hematologic malignancies (HM). The appropriateness of current criteria for diagnosing HLH in the context of HMs is unknown because they were developed for children with familial HLH (HLH-2004) or derived from adult patient cohorts in which HMs were underrepresented (HScore). Moreover, many features of these criteria may directly reflect the underlying HM rather than an abnormal inflammatory state. To improve and potentially simplify HLH diagnosis in patients with HMs, we studied an international cohort of 225 adult patients with various HMs both with and without HLH and for whom HLH-2004 criteria were available. We used classification and regression tree and receiver operating curve analysis to identify the most useful diagnostic and prognostic parameters and optimize laboratory cutoff values. Combined elevation of soluble CD25 (>3,900 U/ml) and ferritin (>1,000 ng/ml) best identified HLH-2004 defining features (sensitivity 84%, specificity 81%). Moreover, this combination, which we term the 'optimized HLH inflammatory' (OHI) index, was highly predictive of mortality (hazard ratio 4.3; confidence interval 3.0-6.2) across diverse HMs. Furthermore, the OHI index identified a large group of patients with high mortality risk that were not defined as having HLH by HLH-2004/HScore. Finally, the OHI demonstrates diagnostic and prognostic value when used for routine surveillance of patients with newly diagnosed HMs as well as those with clinically suspected HLH. Thus, we conclude that the OHI index identifies HM patients with an inflammatory state associated with a high mortality risk and warrants further prospective validation.

Mortality Prediction Utilizing Blood Biomarkers to Predict the Severity of COVID-19 Using Machine Learning Technique

Healthcare researchers have been working on mortality prediction for COVID-19 patients with differing levels of severity. A rapid and reliable clinical evaluation of disease intensity will assist in the allocation and prioritization of mortality mitigation resources. The novelty of the work proposed in this paper is an early prediction model of high mortality risk for both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients, which provides state-of-the-art performance, in an external validation cohort from a different population. Retrospective research was performed on two separate hospital datasets from two different countries for model development and validation. In the first dataset, COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients were admitted to the emergency department in Boston (24 March 2020 to 30 April 2020), and in the second dataset, 375 COVID-19 patients were admitted to Tongji Hospital in China (10 January 2020 to 18 February 2020). The key parameters to predict the risk of mortality for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients were identified and a nomogram-based scoring technique was developed using the top-ranked five parameters. Age, Lymphocyte count, D-dimer, CRP, and Creatinine (ALDCC), information acquired at hospital admission, were identified by the logistic regression model as the primary predictors of hospital death. For the development cohort, and internal and external validation cohorts, the area under the curves (AUCs) were 0.987, 0.999, and 0.992, respectively. All the patients are categorized into three groups using ALDCC score and death probability: Low (probability < 5%), Moderate (5% < probability < 50%), and High (probability > 50%) risk groups. The prognostic model, nomogram, and ALDCC score will be able to assist in the early identification of both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients with high mortality risk, helping physicians to improve patient management.

Listeria Monocytogenes Brain Abscesses in a Patient with Disseminated Non-Small Cellular Lung Cancer: MRI Findings

Brain abscesses caused by Listeria monocytogenes (LM) are very rare and carry a high mortality risk. We present a patient with disseminated non-small cellular lung cancer (NSCLC) and multiple unusual LM brain abscesses. These abscesses have multiple elongated peripherally enhancing lesions in a characteristic formation that is “worm or tramtrack-like” following the white matter fiber tracts.

POS0141 ACTIVE SCREENING FOR GOUT IDENTIFIES A LARGER CARDIOVASCULAR POPULATION AT HIGH MORTALITY RISK

Background:We have recently revealed by active screening that about a third of gout cases in the cardiovascular population is not registered in records [1], highlighting the value of field studies.Objectives:To assess whether gout screening in patients hospitalized for cardiovascular events may also help identify patients at higher risk of mortality after discharge.Methods:A retrospective cohort field study, carried out in 266 patients admitted for cardiovascular events in the Cardiology, Neurology and Vascular Surgery units of a tertiary centre in Spain. The presence of gout was established by records review and face-to-face interview, according to the 2015 ACR/EULAR criteria. The occurrence of mortality during follow-up and its causes were obtained from electronic medical records. The association between gout and subsequent mortality was tested using Cox regression models. Whether covariates affect the gout-associated mortality was also studied.Results:Of 266 patients recruited at baseline, 17 were excluded due to loss to follow-up (>6mo), leaving a final sample of 249 patients (93.6%). Thirty-six cases (14.5% of the sample) were classified as having gout: twenty-three (63.9%) had a previously registered diagnosis, while 13 (36.1%) had not and was established by the interview.After discharge, the mean follow-up was 19.9 months (SD ±8.6), with a mortality incidence of 21.6 deaths per 100 patient-years, 34.2% by cardiovascular causes.Gout significantly increased the risk of subsequent all-cause mortality, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.01 (95%CI 1.13 to 3.58). When the analysis was restricted to gout patients with registered diagnosis, the association remained significant (HR 2.89; 95%CI 1.54 to 5.41).The adjusted HR for all-cause mortality associated with gout was 1.86 (95% CI 1.01-3.40). Regarding the causes of death, both cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular were numerically increased.Secondary variables rising the mortality risk in those with gout were age (HR 1.07; 1.01 to 1.13) and coexistent renal disease (HR 4.70; 1.31 to 16.84), while gender, gout characteristics and traditional risk factors showed no impact.Conclusion:Gout was confirmed an independent predictor of subsequent all-cause mortality in patients admitted for cardiovascular events. Active screening for gout allowed identifying a larger population at high mortality risk, which may help tailor optimal management to minimize the cardiovascular impact.References:[1]Calabuig I, et al. Front Med (Lausanne). 2020 Sep 29;7:560.Disclosure of Interests:Silvia Ruiz-Simón: None declared, Irene Calabuig: None declared, Miguel Gomez-Garberi: None declared, Mariano Andrés Speakers bureau: Grunenthal, Menarini, Consultant of: Grunenthal, Grant/research support from: Grunenthal

Efficacy of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation before surgery of a post-infarction ventricular septal rupture in cardiogenic shock

A 73-year-old man with an acute myocardial infarction experienced severe cardiogenic shock due to an inferior ventricular septal rupture with a massive left-to-right shunt. Emergency surgery was considered a too high mortality risk. The patient was implanted with an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation system as a bridge to surgery. On the seventh day after admission, the ventricular septal defect was successfully repaired. Our case study demonstrates that extracorporeal membrane oxygenation could be an option in cases of ventricular septal rupture as a bridge for stabilizing patients.