Articles: disease.
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The COVID-19 pandemic and phased nationwide lockdown have impacted negatively on individuals with tuberculosis (TB) and routine TB services. Through a literature review and the perspective of members of a national TB Think Tank task team, we describe the impact of the pandemic and lockdown on TB patients and services as well as the potential long-term setback to TB control in South Africa (SA). Strategies to mitigate risk and impact are explored, together with opportunities to leverage synergies from both diseases to the benefit of the National TB Programme (NTP). ⋯ By integrating TB case finding into the advanced screening, testing, tracing and monitoring systems established for COVID-19, TB case finding and linkage to care could increase, with many more TB patients starting treatment. Similarly, integrating knowledge and awareness of TB into the increased healthcare worker and community education on infectious respiratory diseases, behavioural practices around infection prevention and control, and cough etiquette, including destigmatisation of mask use, may contribute to reducing TB transmission. However, these potential gains could be overwhelmed by the impact of increasing poverty and other social determinants of health on the burden of TB.
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To determine the association between comorbidities and the severity of the disease among COVID-19 patients. ⋯ Comorbidities among COVID-19 patients may contribute to increasing their susceptibility to severe illness. The identification of these potential risk factors could help reduce mortality by identifying patients with poor prognosis at an early stage.
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Multicentric Castleman disease (MCD) is a rare clinical entity characterized by a polyclonal lymphoid proliferation, leading to generalized lymphadenopathy, organomegaly and systemic symptoms. It has been reported in association with either other monoclonal or polyclonal lymphoid disorders, such as POEMS syndrome and immunoglobulin (Ig)G4-related disease. We present a patient showing a variant of MCD, sharing common features with POEMS syndrome and associated with the proliferation of IgG4-producing plasma cells.
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. Dysfunction of the right ventricle (RV) in rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a poor prognostic factor. We planned to observe the clinicopathological changes in the RV of patients with RHD. ⋯ . Patients with RV dysfunction were older in age and their RVSP was raised at operation, suggesting that earlier intervention may help in preserving RV function.
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Mayo Clinic proceedings · Nov 2020
Review Meta AnalysisAnticoagulation in COVID-19: A Systematic Review, Meta-analysis, and Rapid Guidance From Mayo Clinic.
A higher risk of thrombosis has been described as a prominent feature of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This systematic review synthesizes current data on thrombosis risk, prognostic implications, and anticoagulation effects in COVID-19. We included 37 studies from 4070 unique citations. ⋯ Coagulopathy and thrombotic events were frequent among patients with COVID-19 and further increased in those with more severe forms of the disease. We also present guidance on the prevention and management of thrombosis from a multidisciplinary panel of specialists from Mayo Clinic. The current certainty of evidence is generally very low and continues to evolve.