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Abstract Introduction and importance Pneumocystis jirovecii (PJP) pneumonia is a serious life-threatening condition in immunocompromised individuals and is often associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) + patients. We describe a case of PJP pneumonia which provided a diagnostic challenge in a patient who presented with no known risk factors leading to a delay in initiation of appropriate antibiotic therapy. Case presentation A 71-year-old previously healthy white/Caucasian male presented with subacute hypoxic respiratory failure due to multifocal pneumonia with diffuse bilateral ground glass opacities with consolidations despite prior treatment with antibiotics and steroids. He was admitted and started on intravenous broad-spectrum antibiotics but continued to deteriorate, eventually requiring intubation and transfer to the ICU. Bronchoscopy revealed PJP and treatment was initiated, but the patient developed refractory shock and multiorgan failure, and ultimately died. It was later discovered that he was HIV-1 positive. Clinical discussion PJP, as a potential cause of his presentation, was not considered given that our patient lacked any overt risk factors for PJP pneumonia. He continued to worsen despite broad spectrum antibiotic therapy and hence bronchoscopy was pursued. His clinical profile, in hindsight, was suspicious for PJP pneumonia and early PJP-directed antibiotic therapy may have prevented a fatal outcome, as in this case. There was an element of cognitive bias across multiple providers which may have contributed to the delay in treatment despite his rapid clinical decline while on conventional pneumonia treatment protocol. His diagnosis was later evident when his BAL-DFA grew PJP in addition to his low levels of CD4 and CD8 cells. He was found to be HIV-1 positive five days after his death; there was a delay in this diagnosis since all positive HIV tests from the hospital are reported as ‘pending’ until the presumptive positive sample goes to the Connecticut Department of Public Health State laboratory for the confirmatory test. PJP-targeted therapies were initiated later in our patient’s hospital course when the infection had progressed to refractory septic shock with multiorgan failure and eventual death. Conclusion PJP pneumonia is a fatal disease if not recognized early in the course of illness, and the patient usually undergoes multiple antibiotic regimens before they are diagnosed and receive appropriate clinical care. The gold standard of diagnostic testing for PJP is by obtaining bronchial washings through a flexible bronchoscopy and the turnaround time for such results may take a few days to result. A significant proportion of patients may not have any overt risk factors of immunosuppression and early empiric treatment for PJP may be clinically appropriate as the delay in diagnosis may be associated with significant morbidity and mortality risk.

Summary: Environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) is a subclinical enteropathy challenging to diagnose due to an overlap of tissue features with other inflammatory enteropathies. EED subjects (n = 52) from Pakistan, controls (n = 25), and a validation EED cohort (n = 30) from Zambia were used to develop a machine-learning-based image analysis classification model. We extracted histologic feature representations from the Pakistan EED model and correlated them to transcriptomics and clinical biomarkers. In-silico metabolic network modeling was used to characterize alterations in metabolic flux between EED and controls and validated using untargeted lipidomics. Genes encoding beta-ureidopropionase, CYP4F3, and epoxide hydrolase 1 correlated to numerous tissue feature representations. Fatty acid and glycerophospholipid metabolism-related reactions showed altered flux. Increased phosphatidylcholine, lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), and ether-linked LPCs, and decreased ester-linked LPCs were observed in the duodenal lipidome of Pakistan EED subjects, while plasma levels of glycine-conjugated bile acids were significantly increased. Together, these findings elucidate a multi-omic signature of EED.

BackgroundResistance training has been consistently shown to have multiple health benefits, especially for patients who have undergone bariatric surgery. Patients who have undergone bariatric surgery are recommended to participate in resistance exercise; however, protocols and guidelines for resistance training remain poorly implemented. ObjectiveThis is a protocol for a systematic review and possibly a meta-analysis that will synthesize evidence of the effects of resistance exercise on changes in body composition, muscular strength, overall weight loss or maintenance of weight loss, and quality of life in patients after metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS). The findings of this study may provide practice recommendations for resistance training among patients who have undergone MBS. MethodsWe registered this systematic review on PROSPERO (CRD42023464928) on September 18, 2023. A systematic search of electronic databases (Embase, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and CINAHL) was conducted on studies published from January 1, 1991, to May 15, 2023, to identify English-language human studies on adult patients who have undergone MBS that include a resistance training intervention and describe outcome measurements of body composition or strength. Screening will be performed using PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, and relevant data elements will be extracted. ResultsSearches and screenings commenced in May 2023. Data extraction and analyses will be completed by the end of December 2023, after which findings will be synthesized and reported by the end of March 2024. ConclusionsThis systematic review will summarize the evidence regarding resistance training in patients after MBS. The findings from this systematic review and possible meta-analysis may provide practice recommendations for resistance training protocols in this patient population and identify characteristics of protocols with the best adherence and outcomes. With these results, we anticipate that we will gain a deeper understanding of the role of resistance training after MBS. Trial RegistrationPROSPERO CRD42023464928; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=464928 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)PRR1-10.2196/49513

Background Mild stroke has variable outcomes, and there is an ongoing debate regarding whether the administration of thrombolytics improves outcomes in this subgroup of stroke patients. Having a better understanding of the features of mild stroke may help identify patients who are at risk of poor outcomes. Objective The objective of this study is to evaluate the association of clinical and imaging-based small vessel disease features (white matter hyperintensities and cerebral microbleeds) with stroke severity and clinical outcomes in patients with mild stroke. Methods In this retrospective study, mild stroke was defined as a National Institute of Health stroke scale (NIHSS) score

Dementia is a symptom of Alzheimer’s Disease (A.D.) that affects many people around the globe each year. There is no effective cure to treat this disease, and it can prove to be deadly to the patient if left untreated or undetected. In this paper, the authors propose a novel DCGAN-based Augmentation and Classification (D-BAC) model approach to identify and classify dementia into various categories depending upon its prominence and severity in the available MRI scans. The proposed detection of early onset of dementia, also referred to as Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), is also studied with the help of a novel GAN-augmented dataset. The proposed model can predict MCI with an accuracy of 74% and can classify dementia into four categories depending upon its prominence in the MRI scan. The authors have also utilized Visual Explainable A.I. (XAI) and have used GradCAM to visually represent the internal working of the model. This novel approach helps verify the differentiating features of the MRI scans learned by the CNN model during training. Three different datasets, namely the original dataset, geometrically transformed images, and a GAN-augmented dataset, have been used for performance analysis. A comparison of the performance of the CNN model has been made on these datasets, and the superiority of results using the novel GAN-augmented dataset has been studied and discussed. Moreover, progressive resizing has also been applied on this GAN-dataset, and different CNN architectures have also been used to achieve better performance scores. The model proposed in the end has a training accuracy of 97% and a testing accuracy of 82% when tested using a conventional CNN architecture and has a testing accuracy of 84% and 87% when tested using VGG-16 and VGG-19 architecture, respectively.

Abstract Background Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) accounts for significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Arrhythmias are considered the main cause of mortality, however, there is paucity of data relating to trends of arrhythmia and associated outcomes in HCM patients. Methods Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2003 to 2014 was analyzed. HCM related hospitalizations were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD9‐CM) code 425.1 and 425.11 in all diagnosis fields. Results Overall, there was an increase in number of hospitalizations related to arrhythmias among HCM patients from 7784 in 2003 to 8380 in 2014 (relative increase 10.5%, P

Background and Aim: Smooth and rapid emergence and extubation, with minimal coughing, is desirable after cervical spine surgery to facilitate early neurological examination. The present study investigated the effect of dexmedetomidine as an intraoperative anesthetic adjuvant on postoperative extubation and recovery profile in patients undergoing anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) surgery. Material and Methods: Sixty-four, American Society of Anesthesiologist I or II adult patients (age 18–60 years) were randomized in this placebo-controlled, double-blind study. In group D, dexmedetomidine was started at 0.2 μg/kg/h after a loading dose of 1 μg/kg before induction and in group P, volume and infusion rate-matched normal saline was used. Perioperative hemodynamics, intraoperative anesthetic consumption, and postoperative recovery profile were observed. Results: Thirty-one patients in each group successfully completed the study. Time to emergence (6.9 min vs 10 min, P < 0.001), time to extubation (8.5 min vs 12.2 min, P = 0.002), and time to achieve modified Aldrete score ≥9 (5 min vs 10 min, P < 0.001) were earlier in group D compared to group P, respectively. Pain score at extubation was lower (0 vs 20) and time for first analgesic was longer (50 min vs 15 min) in group D compared to group P. Coughing at extubation was comparable in both the groups. One patient in group D had severe postextubation bradycardia. Conclusions: Intraoperative use of dexmedetomidine at the lowest recommended dosage in adults undergoing ACDF surgery results in a favorable recovery profile with reduced emergence/extubation time and postoperative pain, but similar incidence of coughing.

End-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO2) monitoring has now become the standard of care not only during anesthesia but also in intensive care units for patients on mechanical ventilation, emergency department, and pre-hospital settings to confirm and monitor the correct placement of endotracheal tube. It is a non-invasive and continuous method of measuring exhaled carbon dioxide (CO2). Continuous waveform capnography measures EtCO2 and monitors ventilation. EtCO2 often correlates with partial pressure of carbon dioxide in arterial blood (PaCO2) and is a reliable indicator of PaCO2. A rise in EtCO2 often implies increased production of CO2 or decreased excretion (rebreathing, decrease ventilation) of CO2. We report an unusual case where the monitor malfunction per se lead to spuriously increased EtCO2 values without any clinical cause and did not correlate with PaCO2, thereby re-emphasizing that various monitors must always be interpreted in correlation with clinical observation.

Abstract Background The study aimed to evaluate and compare the stress distribution and 3-dimensional displacements along the craniofacial sutures in between the Rapid maxillary Expansion (RME) and Implant supported RME (I-RME). Method s Finite element model of the skull and the implants were created using ANSYS software. The finite element model thus built composed of 537692 elements and 115694 nodes in RME model & 543078 elements and 117948 nodes with implants model. The forces were applied on the palatal surface of the posterior teeth to cause 5mm of transverse displacement on either side of the palatal halves, making it a total of 10mm. The stresses and the displacement values were obtained and interpreted. Results Varying pattern of stress and the displacements with both positive and negative values were seen. The maximum displacement was seen in the case of plain RME model and that too at Pterygomaxillary suture and Mid-palatal suture in descending order. In the case of I-RME maximum displacement was seen at Zygomaticomaxillary suture followed by Pterygomaxillary suture. The displacements produced in all the three planes of space for the plain RME model were greater in comparison to the Implant Supported RME model. And the stresses remained high for all the sutures in case of an I-RME. Conclusions There is a definite difference in the stress and the displacement pattern produced by RME and I-RME model and each can be used according to the need of the patient. The stresses generated in case of conventional RME were considerably less than that of the I-RME for all the sutures.

Intravenous thrombolysis is the preferred treatment for massive pulmonary embolism with hemodynamic instability, when there are no contraindications to the therapy. However, when absolute contraindications to thrombolysis are present, clinicians are at a crux, especially when mechanical thrombectomy is also not possible. We present a case of a 40-year-old man with polytrauma with head injury who developed massive pulmonary embolism requiring intravenous thrombolysis on day 15 after decompressive craniotomy—possibly a first in the literature. The patient, however, successfully recovered from this near-fatal episode. With this report, we wish to highlight that at a near-dying situation, no contraindication is absolute, and all possible efforts must be made by the clinician to save the patient.

The pulmonary manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus can range in severity from mild to life threatening and can be particularly marked in women who are recently postpartum. We present below a seventeen-year-old female patient, one month postpartum, who had findings consistent with an acute infectious pneumonia whom upon further query and passage of time was diagnosed with severe pneumonitis due to systemic lupus erythematosus.

Background: Complete resection has been the preferred treatment for extracranial juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibromas (JNA) but resection of JNA with intracranial extension (ICE) can be quite challenging because of the associated risk of extensive haemorrhage. The aim of this study was to assess the neurological outcome of patients undergoing surgery for removal of JNA with ICE and analyse various perioperative anaesthetic factors that could possibly affect the outcome. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted including patients with JNA with ICE requiring combined otolaryngological and neurosurgical approach for tumour removal at our centre from January 2001 to December 2010. Patient's medical and anaesthesia records were reviewed and data regarding patient demography, pre-operative investigations, anaesthetic management, post-operative investigations and complications, number of days of intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital stay and Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) at the time of discharge from hospital were collected and reviewed. Results: A total of 29 patients were operated. The median age of presentation was 15 years. Nineteen patients (65.5%) had a good GOS of 5 at discharge, 7 (24.1%) had moderate outcome with GOS of 4 and 3 patients (10.3%) had poor outcome with GOS of ≤3. There was one mortality in our study. Perioperative factors affecting the GOS at discharge were amount of intra-operative blood loss, intra-operative infusion of packed red blood cells (RBCs) and colloid and post-operative haemoglobin. Conclusion: The outcome of patients with JNA is affected by intra-operative blood loss and transfusion.

We define GCR-lightlike submanifolds of indefinite cosymplectic manifolds and give an example. Then, we study mixed geodesic GCR-lightlike submanifolds of indefinite cosymplectic manifolds and obtain some characterization theorems for a GCR-lightlike submanifold to be a GCR-lightlike product.

We study mixed geodesic GCR-lightlike submanifolds of indefinite Sasakian manifolds and obtain some necessary and sufficient conditions for a GCR-lightlike submanifold to be a GCR-lightlike product.