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To describe the clinical characteristics, laboratory results, imaging findings, and in-hospital outcomes of COVID-19 patients admitted to Brazilian hospitals. Methods: A cohort study of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized from March 2020 to September 2020 in 25 hospitals. Data were collected from medical records using Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) tools. A multivariate Poisson regression model was used to assess the risk factors for in-hospital mortality. Results: For a total of 2,054 patients (52.6% male; median age of 58 years), the in-hospital mortality was 22.0%; this rose to 47.6% for those treated in the intensive care unit (ICU). Hypertension (52.9%), diabetes (29.2%), and obesity (17.2%) were the most prevalent comorbidities. Overall, 32.5% required invasive mechanical ventilation, and 12.1% required kidney replacement therapy. Septic shock was observed in 15.0%, nosocomial infection in 13.1%, thromboembolism in 4.1%, and acute heart failure in 3.6%. Age >= 65 years, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, C-reactive protein ! 100 mg/dL, platelet count < 100 Â 10 9 /L, oxygen saturation < 90%, the need for supplemental oxygen, and invasive mechanical ventilation at admission were independently associated with a higher risk of in-hospital mortality. The overall use of antimicrobials was 87.9%. Conclusions: This study reveals the characteristics and in-hospital outcomes of hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 in Brazil. Certain easily assessed parameters at hospital admission were independently associated with a higher risk of death. The high frequency of antibiotic use points to an over-use of antimicrobials in COVID-19 patients.

C-reactive protein was as useful as procalcitonin in reducing antibiotic use in a predominantly medical population of septic patients, causing no apparent harm.

BackgroundSuccinate is an intermediate of the citric acid cycle as well as an extracellular circulating molecule, whose receptor, G protein-coupled receptor-91 (GPR91), was recently identified and characterized in several tissues, including heart. Because some pathological conditions such as ischemia increase succinate blood levels, we investigated the role of this metabolite during a heart ischemic event, using human and rodent models.ResultsWe found that succinate causes cardiac hypertrophy in a GPR91 dependent manner. GPR91 activation triggers the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), the expression of calcium/calmodulin dependent protein kinase IIδ (CaMKIIδ) and the translocation of histone deacetylase 5 (HDAC5) into the cytoplasm, which are hypertrophic-signaling events. Furthermore, we found that serum levels of succinate are increased in patients with cardiac hypertrophy associated with acute and chronic ischemic diseases.ConclusionsThese results show for the first time that succinate plays an important role in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy through GPR91 activation, and extend our understanding of how ischemia can induce hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12964-014-0078-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Cardiac imaging is crucial to detect the cardiac involvement in patients with Chagas disease, stage the disease and stratify patient risk and address management. Unfortunately, most patients live in regions with limited access to imaging methods and point-of-care, simplified protocols, could improve the access of these remote populations to important information that could impact in the clinical management of the disease. Therefore, there are many fields for further research in cardiac imaging in Chagas disease. How to better provide an earlier diagnosis of cardiac involvement and improve patients risk stratification remains to be addressed using different images modalities.

Patients hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) may present risk for corneal injury due to sedation or coma. This study aimed to estimate the incidence of corneal injuries; to identify the risk factors and to propose a risk prediction model for the development of corneal injury, in adult patients, in an intensive care unit of a public hospital. This is a one year, prospective cohort study with 254 patients. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, univariate and logistic regression. Of the 254 patients, 59.4% had corneal injuries and the mean time to onset was 8.9days. The independent variables that predispose to risk for punctate type corneal injury were: duration of hospitalization, other ventilatory support device, presence of edema and blinking less than five times a minute. The Glasgow Coma Scale and exposure of the ocular globe were the variables related to corneal ulcer type corneal injury. The injury frequencies were punctate type (55.1%) and corneal ulcers (11.8%). Risk prediction models for the development of punctate and corneal ulcer type corneal injury were established. Lesões na córnea: incidência e fatores de risco em Unidade de Terapia IntensivaPacientes internados em unidade de terapia intensiva (UTI) podem apresentar risco para lesão na córnea devido à sedação ou coma. Este estudo teve por objetivo estimar a incidência das lesões na córnea, identificar os fatores de risco e propor modelo de predição de risco para o desenvolvimento de lesão na córnea, em pacientes adultos, em unidade de terapia intensiva, de um hospital público. É estudo de coorte prospectiva de um ano, com 254 pacientes. Os dados foram analisados por estatística descritiva, univariada e de regressão logística. Dos 254 pacientes, 59,4% tiveram lesão na córnea e o tempo médio para o seu aparecimento foi de 8,9 dias. As variáveis independentes que predispõem ao risco para lesão na córnea, tipo puntacta, foram: tempo de internação, outro dispositivo de assistência ventilatoria, presença de edema e piscar de olhos menor que cinco vezes por minuto. Escala de coma de Glasgow e exposição de globo ocular foram as variáveis relacionadas à lesão na córnea do tipo úlcera de córnea. As lesões foram do tipo puntacta (55,1%) e úlceras de córnea (11,8%). Modelos de predição de risco para lesões na córnea do tipo puntacta e úlcera foram estabelecidos.Descritores: Doenças da Córnea; Úlcera da Córnea; Fatores de Risco; Diagnóstico de Enfermagem; Unidades de Terapia Intensiva; Enfermagem. Lesiones en la córnea: incidencia y factores de riesgo en Unidad de Terapia IntensivaPacientes internados en Unidad de Terapia Intensiva (UTI) pueden presentar riesgo de lesión en la córnea debido a la sedación o al coma. Este estudio tuvo por objetivo estimar la incidencia de las lesiones en la córnea; identificar los factores de riesgo y proponer un modelo de predicción de riesgo para el desarrollo de lesión en la córnea, en pacientes adultos, en Unidad de Terapia Intensiva, de un hospital público. Estudio de cohorte prospectivo de un año co...

Objectives The majority of available scores to assess mortality risk of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) patients in the emergency department have high risk of bias. Therefore, our aim was to develop and validate a score at hospital admission for predicting in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients, and to compare this score with other existing ones. Methods Consecutive patients (≥18 years) with confirmed COVID-19 admitted to the participating hospitals were included. Logistic regression analysis was performed to develop a prediction model for in-hospital mortality, based on the 3978 patients admitted between March-July, 2020. The model was validated in the 1054 patients admitted during August-September, as well as in an external cohort of 474 Spanish patients. Results Median (25th-75th percentile) age of the model-derivation cohort was 60 (48-72) years, and in-hospital mortality was 20.3%. The validation cohorts had similar age distribution and in-hospital mortality. Seven significant variables were included in the risk score: age, blood urea nitrogen, number of comorbidities, C-reactive protein, SpO 2 /FiO 2 ratio, platelet count and heart rate. The model had high discriminatory value (AUROC 0.844, 95% CI 0.829 to 0.859), which was confirmed in the Brazilian (0.859 [95% CI 0.833 to 0.885]) and Spanish (0.894 [95% CI 0.870 to 0.919]) validation cohorts, and displayed better discrimination ability than other existing scores. It is implemented in a freely available online risk calculator (https://abc2sph.com/). Conclusions We designed and validated an easy-to-use rapid scoring system based on characteristics of COVID-19 patients commonly available at hospital presentation, for early stratification for in-hospital mortality risk of patients with COVID-19.