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ImportanceAirway mucus plugs are common in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); however, the association of airway mucus plugging and mortality in patients with COPD is unknown.ObjectiveTo determine whether airway mucus plugs identified on chest computed tomography (CT) were associated with increased all-cause mortality.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsObservational retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data of patients with a diagnosis of COPD in the Genetic Epidemiology of COPD cohort. Participants were non-Hispanic Black or White individuals, aged 45 to 80 years, who smoked at least 10 pack-years. Participants were enrolled at 21 centers across the US between November 2007 and April 2011 and were followed up through August 31, 2022.ExposuresMucus plugs that completely occluded airways on chest CT scans, identified in medium- to large-sized airways (ie, approximately 2- to 10-mm lumen diameter) and categorized as affecting 0, 1 to 2, or 3 or more lung segments.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe primary outcome was all-cause mortality, assessed with proportional hazard regression analysis. Models were adjusted for age, sex, race and ethnicity, body mass index, pack-years smoked, current smoking status, forced expiratory volume in the first second of expiration, and CT measures of emphysema and airway disease.ResultsAmong the 4483 participants with COPD, 4363 were included in the primary analysis (median age, 63 years [IQR, 57-70 years]; 44% were women). A total of 2585 (59.3%), 953 (21.8%), and 825 (18.9%) participants had mucus plugs in 0, 1 to 2, and 3 or more lung segments, respectively. During a median 9.5-year follow-up, 1769 participants (40.6%) died. The mortality rates were 34.0% (95% CI, 32.2%-35.8%), 46.7% (95% CI, 43.5%-49.9%), and 54.1% (95% CI, 50.7%-57.4%) in participants who had mucus plugs in 0, 1 to 2, and 3 or more lung segments, respectively. The presence of mucus plugs in 1 to 2 vs 0 and 3 or more vs 0 lung segments was associated with an adjusted hazard ratio of death of 1.15 (95% CI, 1.02-1.29) and 1.24 (95% CI, 1.10-1.41), respectively.Conclusions and RelevanceIn participants with COPD, the presence of mucus plugs that obstructed medium- to large-sized airways was associated with higher all-cause mortality compared with patients without mucus plugging on chest CT scans.

Introduction: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the common serious infectious diseases encountered in the intensive care unit (ICU), which highly affects the healthcare cost and patient prognosis. VAP is caused by various antimicrobial-resistant aetiological agents and the clinical manifestations lack sensitivity and specificity, making the prompt treatment is a challenge. This study aimed to investigate the microbial profile of VAP causing microorganisms among ICU patients in Egypt, antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and the genetic diversity among the frequently isolated organisms. Methodology: Throughout the period from August 2016 to August 2017, endotracheal aspirate (ETA) specimens were collected from ICU patients with clinically suspected VAP in two tertiary hospitals in Cairo. ETA specimens were investigated for the microbial content. The antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by the Kirby-Bauer method. ERIC-PCR was performed for genotyping. Results: Fifty microbiologically confirmed VAP cases were identified. The most frequently isolated microorganisms were Klebsiella spp., followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii. Candida spp. was the most isolated fungi. A single isolate of each Cupriavidus pauculus and Aeromonas salmonicida was isolated. Antimicrobial susceptibility profiles indicated 40% of isolates were multidrug-resistant (MDR). ERIC-PCR revealed no genetic relatedness among K. pneumoniae isolates, the most frequently isolated microorganism. Conclusions: Gram-negative bacteria are the main causative agents of VAP cases, which mostly are MDR. Microorganisms like C. pauculus and A. salmonicida should be taken into consideration as VAP causative agents. There was no common source of infection suggesting likely endogenous sources of K. pneumoniae, the main causative agent of VAP in this study.

Background: We used a dual energy computed tomography (DECT) based scoring system in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) and correlated it with functional and hemodynamic parameters. Methods:This was a retrospective study on 78 patients with CTEPH who underwent DECT. First, clot burden score was calculated by assigning a following score: pulmonary trunk-5, each main pulmonary artery-4, each lobar-3, each segmental-2, and subsegmental-1 per lobe; sum total was then calculated. Perfusion defect (PD) score was calculated by assigning 1 point to each segmental PD. Combined score was calculated by adding the clot burden and PD score. All three scores were correlated with clinical and hemodynamic parameters that included New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class, 6-minute walk distance (6MWT) in feet, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO), pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) [systolic PAP (sPAP), diastolic PAP (dPAP) and mean PAP (mPAP)], pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), right atrial pressure, cardiac output, and cardiac index.Results: Clot burden score, PD score, and combined score all positively correlated with sPAP (0.25, 0.34, 0.34), PVR (0.27, 0.30, 0.34), and mPAP (0.28, 0.31, 0.36). There was no statistically significant correlation of clot burden score, PD score and combined score with 6MWT, % predicted 6MWT, FEV1, FEV1%, FVC, FVC%, DLCO% and NYHA functional class.Conclusions: DECT based scoring in CTEPH is feasible and correlates positively with sPAP, mPAP and PVR. Combined score has the highest magnitude of correlation.

There is a plethora of cardiovascular devices used for therapy and monitoring, and newer devices are being introduced constantly. As a result of advancement of medical technology and rapid development of such technology to address unmet needs across cardiovascular care, multiple conditions which were previously treated surgically or with medications now benefit from trans-catheter device-based evaluation and management. Moreover, innovation to existing technology has transformed the structural design of many traditional cardiovascular devices, making them safer and enabling easier deployment within the chest (catheter-based versus surgical). A post-procedure chest radiography (CXR) is often the first routine imaging test ordered in these patients. A CXR is a relatively inexpensive and noninvasive imaging tool, which can be obtained at the patient's bedside if needed. Commonly implanted cardiovascular devices can be quite easily checked for appropriate positioning on routine CXRs. Potential complications associated with malpositioning of such devices may be life-threatening. Such complications often manifest early on CXRs and may not be readily apparent on clinical examination. Prompt recognition of such abnormal radiographic appearances is critical for timely diagnosis and effective management. Clinicians need to be familiar with new devices in order to assess proper placement and identify complications related to mal-positioning. This pictorial essay aims to describe the radiologic appearances of contemporary cardiovascular devices, review indications for their usage and potential complications, and discuss magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compatibility.