During the novel coronavirus pandemic, organ transplant recipients represent a frail susceptible category due to longterm immunosuppressive therapy. For this reason, clinical manifestations may differ from general population and different treatment approaches may be needed. We present the case of a 36-year-old kidney transplanted woman affected by Senior-Loken syndrome diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia after a contact with her positive mother.Initial symptoms were fatigue, dry cough and coryza; she never had fever nor oxygen supplementation.Hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir were started, and the antiviral drug was replaced with darunavir/cobicistat after two days for diarrhea. Immunosuppressant levels were closely monitored, and we observed very high tacrolimus trough levels despite initial dose reduction. The patient was left with steroid therapy alone. The peculiarity of clinical presentation and the management difficulties represent the flagship of our case-report. We stress the need for guidelines in transplant recipients with COVID-19 infection with particular regard to the management of therapy.
Summary Objectives: To evaluate the T-cell interferon (IFN)-g response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific antigens during latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) therapy in candidates for tumor necrosis factor-a inhibitors (TNFi). Methods: 1490 Patients were screened for LTBI. One-hundred and sixty-six of them were treated for LTBI and followed-up with QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT-IT) testing at baseline (T0) and therapy completion (T1); 92 subjects were also tested 3e6 months after therapy completion (T2). Results: At T1 the QFT-IT reversion and conversion rates were 24% (27/111) and 18% (10/55), respectively. By multivariate analysis, the likelihood of reversion significantly decreased with older age (>50e60), larger TST size (>15 mm) and higher IFN-g value at T0 (>1 IU/ml); the likelihood of conversion increased with higher IFN-g levels at T0 (1 IU/ml) and in female patients. Quantitative data among those who scored QFT-IT-positive at T0 showed a decreasing trend of IFN-g levels between T0 and T1 that reached statistical significance when T0 was compared to T2, and T1 to T2.
Conclusions:The data confirm the difficulty of interpreting the modulation of IFN-g levels during LTBI therapy. Currently, there is no evidence to support the use of QFT-IT in the clinical practice of monitoring LTBI treatment in candidates for TNFi.
Objective/Hypothesis
An increasing proportion of adult cystic fibrosis (CF) patients is being referred to endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) in order to relieve the symptoms of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Given that CFTR mutations profoundly alter sinonasal development, we want to explore the relationship between their peculiar surgical anatomy and the risk of postoperative complications.
Study Design
Retrospective case‐control study.
Methods
Paranasal sinuses CT scans of 103 CF adult patients with CRS were compared to those belonging to a cohort of 100 non‐CF adult patients to explore their anatomical differences. Secondly, CF and non‐CF patients who received primary/revision ESS were analyzed in order to assess their preoperative CT scan in terms of surgically relevant variants, and according to the CLOSE checklist. Surgical outcomes were statistically compared in order to explore the differences between groups.
Results
CF group presented more frequently with smaller and less pneumatized paranasal sinuses and a higher Lund‐Mckay score compared with controls. No anatomical differences emerged in terms of genotype stratification. Non‐CF CRS patients undergoing ESS showed a significantly deeper olfactory fossa and a more frequent supraorbital pneumatization compared to CF patients (P < .001 and P = .031, respectively). Whereas this latter group underwent more often aggressive surgical procedures (P = .001), no difference in terms of postoperative adverse events was found (P = .620).
Conclusions
Despite receiving more often aggressive ESS procedures, adult CF patients do not show an increased risk of postoperative complication and this may be linked to a different proportion of anatomical and surgically‐relevant variants.
Level of Evidence
4 Laryngoscope, 131:E2481–E2489, 2021
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