Background Although COVID-19 has greatly affected many low-income and middle-income countries, detailed information about patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) is still scarce. Our aim was to examine ventilation characteristics and outcomes in invasively ventilated patients with COVID-19 in Argentina, an upper middle-income country. Methods In this prospective, multicentre cohort study (SATICOVID), we enrolled patients aged 18 years or older with RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 who were on invasive mechanical ventilation and admitted to one of 63 ICUs in Argentina. Patient demographics and clinical, laboratory, and general management variables were collected on day 1 (ICU admission); physiological respiratory and ventilation variables were collected on days 1, 3, and 7. The primary outcome was all-cause in-hospital mortality. All patients were followed until death in hospital or hospital discharge, whichever occurred first. Secondary outcomes were ICU mortality, identification of independent predictors of mortality, duration of invasive mechanical ventilation, and patterns of change in physiological respiratory and mechanical ventilation variables. The study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT04611269 , and is complete. Findings Between March 20, 2020, and Oct 31, 2020, we enrolled 1909 invasively ventilated patients with COVID-19, with a median age of 62 years [IQR 52–70]. 1294 (67·8%) were men, hypertension and obesity were the main comorbidities, and 939 (49·2%) patients required vasopressors. Lung-protective ventilation was widely used and median duration of ventilation was 13 days (IQR 7–22). Median tidal volume was 6·1 mL/kg predicted bodyweight (IQR 6·0–7·0) on day 1, and the value increased significantly up to day 7; positive end-expiratory pressure was 10 cm H 2 O (8–12) on day 1, with a slight but significant decrease to day 7. Ratio of partial pressure of arterial oxygen (PaO 2 ) to fractional inspired oxygen (FiO 2 ) was 160 (IQR 111–218), respiratory system compliance 36 mL/cm H 2 O (29–44), driving pressure 12 cm H 2 O (10–14), and FiO 2 0·60 (0·45–0·80) on day 1. Acute respiratory distress syndrome developed in 1672 (87·6%) of patients; 1176 (61·6%) received prone positioning. In-hospital mortality was 57·7% (1101/1909 patients) and ICU mortality was 57·0% (1088/1909 patients); 462 (43·8%) patients died of refractory hypoxaemia, frequently overlapping with septic shock (n=174). Cox regression identified age (hazard ratio 1·02 [95% CI 1·01–1·03]), Charlson score (1·16 [1·11–1·23]), endotracheal intubation outside of the ICU (ie, before ICU admission; 1·37 [1·10–1·71]), vasopressor use on day 1 (1·29 [1·07–1·55]), D-dimer concentration (1·02 [1·01–1·03]), PaO 2 /FiO ...

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BMI, pretreatment high leptin levels, and IR are negative predictors for SVR and pretreatment low adiponectin levels are an independent positive predictor for SVR in HCVG4.

This study aim is to assess the prevalence of occult HCV infection among Egyptian patients with non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with elevated AST and ALT, and to correlate presence of occult HCV with severity of liver disease. Patients and Methods: After informed consent 27 patients with elevateed liver enzymes diagnosed as NAFLD were examined for demographic, clinical, laboratory data and Ultrasonography. Liver biopsy was done and tested for HCV RNA in tissue. Genotyping using RFLP analysis of PCR products in the 5'NCR was done for positive cases. Results: HCV RNA in tissue was positive in 11/27 patients (40.7%); genotype was 4a in all positive cases. AST and ALT values showed significantly lower values in occult HCV than the non HCV NAFLD group. Liver biopsy of studied patients showed no significant difference as regard inflammation and fibrosis according to METAVIR score. Conclusions: Occult HCV is highly prevalent among Egyptian NAFLD patients. It seems to induce a mild liver disease. Patients with elevated ALT and negative HCV RNA in sera might be investigated for tissue HCV RNA. Follow up is recommended for the occult HCV patients to monitor progression to overt disease.

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Background We evaluated the validity of some non-invasive scores and ultrasound findings to predict fibrosis and steatosis in a cohort of NAFLD patients who underwent liver biopsy. Ninety-seven NAFLD patients were enrolled and classified into NASH (66) and simple steatosis groups (31) based on liver biopsy. ROC curves were constructed for Fibrosis-4 index (FIB4), aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI), and NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS) in fibrosis prediction, also for (hepatic steatosis index; HSI, fatty liver index; FLI) and ultrasonographic subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue measurements (SAT and VAT) for steatosis prediction. Results FIB4 had AUC of 0.6, APRI and NFS at cutoffs of 0.3 and -.2.4 had AUC of 0.64 and 0.63 in detecting the presence of any grade of fibrosis, and of (0.52, 0.55, and 0.58) for significant fibrosis. FIB4 at a cut-off of (0.76) had the highest AUC in detecting any grade of fibrosis in the simple steatosis group (0.81). SAT (at cutoff of 2.1 and 2.5) was superior to VAT. HSI (at cutoff 45.35 and 45.7) was superior to FLI in detecting moderate or marked steatosis. Conclusion FIB4 and NFS can be used in screening for silent liver disease with ongoing fibrosis in simple steatosis. They are unsatisfactory predictors for significant fibrosis in NAFLD. SAT is better than VAT in predicting moderate steatosis and is slightly better than biochemical HSI.

(i) Chronic HCV is significantly associated with DM (16.8%). (ii) Advanced age, high BMI and AFP, low platelets count and albumin show significant association with DM in HCV. (iii) AFP cutoff of 5.25 is a starting point of fibrosis development and integrated into mathematical model to predict development of liver fibrosis in diabetics with HCV (G4) infection.