Background Bronchiectasis is a common but neglected chronic lung disease. Most epidemiological data are limited to cohorts from Europe and the USA, with few data from low-income and middle-income countries. We therefore aimed to describe the characteristics, severity of disease, microbiology, and treatment of patients with bronchiectasis in India. MethodsThe Indian bronchiectasis registry is a multicentre, prospective, observational cohort study. Adult patients (≥18 years) with CT-confirmed bronchiectasis were enrolled from 31 centres across India. Patients with bronchiectasis due to cystic fibrosis or traction bronchiectasis associated with another respiratory disorder were excluded. Data were collected at baseline (recruitment) with follow-up visits taking place once per year. Comprehensive clinical data were collected through the European Multicentre Bronchiectasis Audit and Research Collaboration registry platform. Underlying aetiology of bronchiectasis, as well as treatment and risk factors for bronchiectasis were analysed in the Indian bronchiectasis registry. Comparisons of demographics were made with published European and US registries, and quality of care was benchmarked against the 2017 European Respiratory Society guidelines.

Purpose In the critically ill, hospital-acquired bloodstream infections (HA-BSI) are associated with significant mortality. Granular data are required for optimizing management, and developing guidelines and clinical trials. Methods We carried out a prospective international cohort study of adult patients (≥ 18 years of age) with HA-BSI treated in intensive care units (ICUs) between June 2019 and February 2021. Results 2600 patients from 333 ICUs in 52 countries were included. 78% HA-BSI were ICU-acquired. Median Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score was 8 [IQR 5; 11] at HA-BSI diagnosis. Most frequent sources of infection included pneumonia (26.7%) and intravascular catheters (26.4%). Most frequent pathogens were Gram-negative bacteria (59.0%), predominantly Klebsiella spp. (27.9%), Acinetobacter spp . (20.3%), Escherichia coli (15.8%), and Pseudomonas spp . (14.3%). Carbapenem resistance was present in 37.8%, 84.6%, 7.4%, and 33.2%, respectively. Difficult-to-treat resistance (DTR) was present in 23.5% and pan-drug resistance in 1.5%. Antimicrobial therapy was deemed adequate within 24 h for 51.5%. Antimicrobial resistance was associated with longer delays to adequate antimicrobial therapy. Source control was needed in 52.5% but not achieved in 18.2%. Mortality was 37.1%, and only 16.1% had been discharged alive from hospital by day-28. Conclusions HA-BSI was frequently caused by Gram-negative, carbapenem-resistant and DTR pathogens. Antimicrobial resistance led to delays in adequate antimicrobial therapy. Mortality was high, and at day-28 only a minority of the patients were discharged alive from the hospital. Prevention of antimicrobial resistance and focusing on adequate antimicrobial therapy and source control are important to optimize patient management and outcomes. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00134-022-06944-2.

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Cyclophosphamide therapy may rarely cause pigmentation of the nails which is of different patterns. We report a patient who developed pigmentation of nails after six cycles of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and 5-flourouracil chemotherapy, each repeated after 28 days for breast cancer. The patient developed nail pigmentation that started proximally and spread distally and involved all the nails of both hands and feet except the second and third toenails of right foot. Using Naranjo ADR Probability Scale, the case revealed a “probable” association with cyclophosphamide.

Introduction:The current guidelines for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) are based primarily on the demonstration of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) on sputum microscopy and chest radiograph. Knowing various radiological manifestations and their association with sputum microscopy findings can allow for early diagnosis and early initiation of treatment.Aims:This study was performed to compare the chest radiograph features seen in sputum-positive and sputum-negative tuberculosis patients, respectively.Materials and Methods:It was a prospective observational study, which included 147 consecutive patients newly diagnosed and treated as PTB between Jan 2018 and July 2018. Chest X-ray was reviewed by 2 independent radiologists and the findings were compared between sputum-positive and sputum-negative PTB cases. The obtained data were analyzed by statistics using SPSS version 15 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL) and χ2 test and Student t test were used for statistical analysis. P values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.Results:Out of a total of 147 patients, 38 (25 males and 13 females, mean age 35.23 ± 18.40) were sputum positive and 109 (77 males and 32 females, mean age 36.07 ± 18.15) were sputum negative. The frequency of patchy consolidation (78.94% vs 49.54%) and cavitation (36.84% vs 15.59%) was significantly higher in sputum-positive PTB (P < 0.05). Radiological lesions like nodular shadow (10.09% vs 2.63%), cystic lesion (13.76% vs 5.26%), fibrosis (12.84% vs 7.89%), miliary shadows (2.75% vs 2.63%), and pleural effusion (1.83% vs 0%) were seen more commonly with sputum-negative PTB but the difference was not statistically significant for any of these features. Sputum-positive PTB tends to occur more commonly on the left side (47.36%) compared with sputum-negative PTB (27.52%) (P < 0.05). 34.21% and 35.77% of the chest X-ray lesions were bilateral in sputum-positive and sputum-negative PTB, respectively.Conclusion:Patchy infiltration and cavitation on chest X-ray are seen more frequently in sputum-positive cases of PTB compared with sputum-negative cases.