Our data show a positive correlation between pre-surgical severity of depression as measured by BDI score and the 1-year success at weight loss after RYGBP as measured by %EWL. More depressed individuals tend to lose greater amounts of weight compared with less depressed individuals. Future prospective studies should examine possible mechanisms and effects of depression and other psychiatric disturbances on long-term weight loss after RYGBP.

BACKGROUND: Corticosteroids may be beneficial in a subset of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but predictors of therapeutic response remain unknown. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a routinely measured biomarker, and reduction in its levels after initiation of therapy may predict inpatient mortality. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, the charts of patients who were admitted to Montefiore Medical Center between March 10, 2020, and May 2, 2020 for the management of COVID-19 were examined. Of all patients who met inclusion criteria, patients who received corticosteroid treatment were categorized as CRP responders (≥50% CRP level reduction) and CRP nonresponders (<50% CRP level reduction) based on change in CRP within 72 hours of corticosteroid treatment initiation. The outcomes of interest were two-fold: (1) CRP response after treatment with corticosteroid, and (2) differences in mortality among patients with CRP response compared those without. RESULTS: Of 2,707 patients admitted during the study period, 324 received corticosteroid treatment. Of patients who received corticosteroid treatment, CRP responders had reduced risk of death compared with risk among CRP nonresponders (25.2% vs 47.8%; unadjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.37; 95% CI, 0.21-0.65; P < .001). This effect remained strong and significant after adjustment for potential confounders (adjusted OR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.14-0.54; P < .001). CONCLUSION: Reduction in CRP by 50% or more within 72 hours of initiating corticosteroid therapy potentially predicts inpatient mortality. This may serve as an early biomarker of response to corticosteroid therapy in patients with COVID-19.

Admission to a busier teaching team is associated with a 21% increase in the odds of 30-day readmission. Sixty-day mortality was not affected by the number of monthly admissions to the teaching team.

In the heart of New York City, adjacent to the Chrysler Building (left), the famed architect Philip Johnson designed the Trylons "as a monument for 42nd Street… to give you the top of the Chrysler building at street level" via visual analogy with the chevron-ornamented spire of its namesake. It's one of many visual reminders that the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US is still a bejeweled city.