Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, an opportunistic pathogen, can cause bacteremia in immunocompromised and debilitated patients. A 50-year-old man with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was admitted to our hospital's intensive care unit where he underwent extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and ventilatory support. On day 25, he developed S. maltophilia bacteremia originating from an indwelling central venous catheter. After confirming susceptibility, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (80 mg/400 mg) was administered thrice daily. Following improvement, he was weaned from ventilation, recovered sufficiently, and was discharged on day 53. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a patient recovering after antimicrobial treatment for S. maltophilia bacteremia associated with severe COVID-19.

Aim There are few reports on the prognostic factors associated with mortality in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients with critical disease. This study assessed prognostic factors associated with mortality of patients with critical COVID-19 who required ventilator management. Methods This single-center, retrospective cohort study used medical record data of COVID-19 patients admitted to an emergency ICU at a hospital in Japan between March 1, 2020 and September 30, 2021, and provided with ventilator management. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with mortality. Results Seventy patients were included, of whom 29 (41.4%) died. The patients who died were significantly older (median: 69 years) (interquartile range [IQR]: 47-82 years) than the patients who survived (62 years [38-84 years], p<0.007). In addition, patients who died were significantly less likely to have received steroid therapy than patients who survived (25 [86.2%] vs. 41 [100%], p=0.026). In the multivariable analysis, age was identified as a significant prognostic factor for mortality and the risk of death increased by 6% for every one-year increase in age (OR: 1.06; 95% CI: 1.00-1.13; p=0.048). Medical history was not a risk factor for death. Conclusion Age was a predictor of mortality in critically ill patients with COVID-19. Therefore, the indications for critical care in older patients with COVID-19 should be carefully considered.

We report a case of cardiac arrest due to asphyxia caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a patient with no history of tracheal intubation but with a history of subglottic stenosis. A 54-year-old man suffered a cardiac arrest at home. The patient had tracheal stenosis; therefore, it was difficult to intubate. The patient had COVID-19, which was presumed to have aggravated the existing tracheal stenosis and caused asphyxiation. The patient died seven days later. This is, to our knowledge, the first report of a patient with subglottic stenosis potentially aggravated by COVID-19, resulting in asphyxia-related cardiopulmonary arrest. The patient could not be saved, but emergency physicians should be aware that airway obstruction can be caused by viral infections, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections. Physicians should consider the difficulty in performing oral intubation and cricothyrotomy and be aware of alternative methods to secure the airway.

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is a widely used procedure for patients with dysphagia and inadequate oral intake. Although PEG offers numerous benefits, complications can occur. Here, we present an unusual case of a 68-year-old woman who developed persistent diarrhea following a routine PEG tube exchange. Despite treatment attempts, her symptoms persisted, prompting further investigation. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) revealed the unexpected displacement of the PEG tube tip into the duodenum. Repositioning of the tube tip into the stomach resolved the diarrhea, and the patient was discharged without recurrence. Diarrhea is a common gastrointestinal side effect in patients receiving enteral nutrition through a PEG tube, typically attributed to multiple factors. However, to our knowledge, this is the first reported case of diarrhea resulting from a PEG tube tip straying into the duodenum. The patient did not undergo any changes in enteral preparation or receive medications known to cause diarrhea. The identification of the tube misplacement was incidental during the CT scan, underscoring the importance of imaging studies in refractory cases. While previous reports indicate no significant difference in diarrhea occurrence between duodenal and gastric feeding, our findings suggest that the presence of the PEG tube tip in the duodenum may contribute to diarrhea in some patients. This case highlights the potential role of CT imaging in diagnosing the cause of persistent diarrhea in PEG-fed individuals. Further accumulation of cases is necessary to establish the significance of duodenal tube placement as a cause of diarrhea during PEG procedures. In conclusion, this case report emphasizes the importance of considering tube misplacement as a potential cause of refractory diarrhea in patients receiving enteral nutrition through a PEG tube. The use of abdominal CT imaging can be valuable in identifying such misplacements and guiding appropriate interventions. Further research is needed to validate these findings and explore the clinical implications for the management of PEG-related diarrhea.

Introduction: This study aimed to determine if tocilizumab treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) increases bacteremia and suppresses fever and inflammatory reactants. Methods: In this single-center, retrospective, observational study, all patients with COVID-19 admitted to our emergency intensive care unit from March 2020 to August 2021 were categorized into tocilizumab-treated and tocilizumabnaı ¨ve groups, and the incidence of bacteremia and other factors between the two groups were compared. Patients with bacteremia were further classified into tocilizumab-treated and tocilizumab-naı ¨ve groups to determine if fever and inflammatory reactants were suppressed. Results: Overall, 144 patients were included in the study, 51 of whom received tocilizumab, which was administered on the day of admission. Further, of the 24 (16.7%) patients with bacteremia, 13 were in the tocilizumab-treated group. Results revealed a significant difference in the C-reactive protein level (p \ 0.001) at the onset of bacteremia between the tocilizumabtreated group [median 0.42 mg/dL (0.27-0.44 mg/dL)] and the tocilizumab-naı ¨ve group [7.48 mg/dL (4.56-13.9 mg/dL)]. The median number of days from admission to onset of bacteremia was not significantly different between the tocilizumab-treated group [10 days (9-12 days)] and the tocilizumab-naı ¨ve group [9 days (7.5-11 days)] (p = 0.48). There was no significant difference in fever between the groups. Multivariate logistic analysis showed that tocilizumab treatment did not affect the probability of bacteremia. Conclusion: Treatmentof patients with COVID-19 with tocilizumab does not increase the risk of bacteremia. Tocilizumab suppresses C-reactive protein levels but not fever. Therefore, careful monitoring of fever can reduce the risk of missed bacteremia.