The Nucleocapsid Protein (N Protein) of severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) is located in the viral core. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) targeting N protein is detectable in the serum of infected patients. The effect of high titers of IgG against N-protein on clinical outcomes of SARS-CoV2 disease has not been described. We studied 400 RT-PCR confirmed SARS-CoV2 patients to determine independent factors associated with poor outcomes, including Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) admission, prolonged MICU stay and hospital admissions, and in-hospital mortality. We also measured serum IgG against the N protein and correlated its concentrations with clinical outcomes. We found that several factors, including Charlson comorbidity Index (CCI), high levels of IL6, and presentation with dyspnea were associated with poor clinical outcomes. It was shown that higher CCI and higher IL6 levels were independently associated with in-hospital mortality. Anti-N protein IgG was detected in the serum of 55 (55%) patients at the time of admission. A high concentration of antibodies, defined as signal to cut off ratio (S/Co) > 1.5 (75 percentile of all measurements), was found in 25 (25%) patients. The multivariable logistic regression models showed that between being an African American, higher CCI, lymphocyte counts, and S/Co ratio > 1.5, only S/Co ratio were independently associated with MICU admission and longer length of stay in hospital. This study recommends that titers of IgG targeting N-protein of SARS-CoV2 at admission is a prognostic factor for the clinical course of disease and should be measured in all patients with SARS-CoV2 infection.

The Nucleocapsid Protein (N Protein) of severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) is located in the viral core. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) targeting N protein is detectable in the serum of infected patients. The effect of high titers of IgG against N-protein on clinical outcomes of SARS-CoV2 disease has not been described. We studied 400 RT-PCR confirmed SARS-CoV2 patients to determine independent factors associated with poor outcomes, including MICU admission, prolonged MICU stay and hospital admissions, and in-hospital mortality. We also measured serum IgG against the N protein and correlated its concentrations with clinical outcomes. We found that several factors, including Charlson comorbidity Index (CCI), high levels of IL6, and presentation with dyspnea were associated with poor clinical outcomes. It was shown that higher CCI and higher IL6 levels were independently associated with in-hospital mortality. Anti-N protein IgG was detected in the serum of 55 (55%) patients at the time of admission. A high concentration of antibodies, defined as signal to cut off ratio (S/Co)> 1.5 (75 percentile of all measurements), was found in 25 (25%) patients. The multivariable logistic regression models showed that between being an African American, higher CCI, lymphocyte counts, and S/Co ratio> 1.5, only S/Co ratio were independently associated with MICU admission and longer length of stay in hospital. This study recommends that titers of IgG targeting N-protein of SARS-CoV2 at admission is a prognostic factor for the clinical course of disease and should be measured in all patients with SARS-CoV2 infection.

Background The World Symposium of Pulmonary Hypertension in 2018, updated the definition of pulmonary hypertension (PH) as mean pulmonary artery pressures (PAP) > 20 mmHg. Pulmonary venous hypertension secondary to left-heart disease, constitutes the most common cause of PH, and the determination of a co-existent pre-capillary (primary) PH becomes paramount, particularly at the moment of evaluating and managing patients with heart failure. Pulmonary artery pressures above the systemic pressures define supra-systemic PH and generally leads to frank right ventricular failure and high mortality. Case presentation We present the perioperative management of a patient with rheumatic mitral valve disease, initially found to have severe PH due to pulmonary venous hypertension, who underwent percutaneous mitral balloon valvuloplasty complicated with mitral chordae rupture, severe mitral regurgitation and supra-systemic PH. Multiple medical therapies and an intra-aortic balloon pump were used as means of non-surgical management of this complication. Conclusions This case report illustrates the perioperative implications of combined pre- and post-capillary PH and supra-systemic PH, as this has not been widely discussed in previous literature. A thorough literature review of the clinical characteristics of PH, methods to determine co-existent pre- and post-capillary PH components, as well as concomitant right ventricular failure is presented. Severe PH has known detrimental effects on the hemodynamic status of patients, which can ultimately lead to a decrease in effective cardiac output and poor tissue perfusion.