Background Pyomyositis is a bacterial infection of skeletal muscle which classically leads to abscess formation. A related, but distinct, entity is infectious myositis. The epidemiology of these infections has changed in recent years. Methods To better characterize both pyomyositis and infectious myositis, we conducted a retrospective study at our tertiary care institution. We identified 43 cases of pyomyositis and 18 cases of infectious myositis treated between January 2012 and May 2020. Results The mean age of patients was 48 years, and 66% were male. Diabetes mellitus affected one-third of patients, and 16% had other immunocompromising comorbidities. Staphylococcal species accounted for 46% of all infections, and common symptoms included muscle pain (95%) and subjective fever (49%). Altered mental status was a presenting symptom in 16% of cases. Roughly half of all patients received >1 class of antibiotic, and the median length of antimicrobial therapy was 18 days. Open and percutaneous drainage procedures figured prominently in the management of these infections, with 28% of patients requiring multiple procedures. Pathology specimens were available for 12 of 61 cases. Overall, the treatment success rate was 84%. Conclusions Gram-positive bacteria accounted for most infections at our institution, and management commonly involved open or percutaneous drainage procedures. Future studies which prospectively evaluate treatment strategies for pyomyositis and infectious myositis are warranted.

Whether implanted as bridge-to-transplantation therapy or destination-therapy, left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) continue to occupy an important niche in the management of advanced heart failure. 1 The majority of the 24,000 devices registered in the Interagency Registry of Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support database are continuous-flow (CF) LVADs, 2 and long-term use of LVADs in appropriate patient populations has been demonstrated to both improve quality of life and offer a survival benefit. 3 Complications following device placement are well known and include stroke, pump thrombosis, and infection. 4 As implanted foreign bodies, LVADs serve as a nidus for infection, 1 and infections have been common in multiple studies conducted in several countries. 5-7

Purpose: To assess the trends and sociodemographic disparities of anal cancer. Methods: For this time series, billing claims were reviewed for all encounters between 2007 and 2011 in the Yale New Haven Health System. Results: There were 80 new cases identified. Decreasing trends were seen in women and increasing trend in men (À30.1% and 27.3%). Diagnoses were more common in areas with the highest proportion of racial minorities (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.75; p £ 0.01) and poverty (IRR = 1.72; p = 0.04). Conclusions: Anal cancer continues to rise in men during the postvaccine era. Communities with the highest proportion of poverty and racial/ethnic minority groups bear the highest burden of disease.

ContextSevere acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) vaccines may incur changes in thyroid functions followed by mood changes, and patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) were suggested to bear a higher risk.ObjectivesWe primarily aim to find whether COVID-19 vaccination could induce potential subsequent thyroid function and mood changes. The secondary aim was to find inflammatory biomarkers associated with risk.MethodsThe retrospective, multi-center study recruited patients with HT receiving COVID-19–inactivated vaccines. C-reactive proteins (CRPs), thyroid-stimulating hormones (TSHs), and mood changes were studied before and after vaccination during a follow-up of a 6-month period. Independent association was investigated between incidence of mood state, thyroid functions, and inflammatory markers. Propensity score–matched comparisons between the vaccine and control groups were carried out to investigate the difference.ResultsFinal analysis included 2,765 patients with HT in the vaccine group and 1,288 patients in the control group. In the matched analysis, TSH increase and mood change incidence were both significantly higher in the vaccine group (11.9% versus 6.1% for TSH increase and 12.7% versus 8.4% for mood change incidence). An increase in CRP was associated with mood change (p< 0.01 by the Kaplan–Meier method) and severity (r = 0.75) after vaccination. Baseline CRP, TSH, and antibodies of thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO) were found to predict incidence of mood changes.ConclusionCOVID-19 vaccination seemed to induce increased levels and incidence of TSH surge followed by mood changes in patients with HT. Higher levels of pre-vaccine serum TSH, CRP, and anti-TPO values were associated with higher incidence in the early post-vaccine phase.