Faculty Bibliography

A 74-year-old man with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, glaucoma, and Stage IIIB squamous cell lung cancer experienced several minutes of flashing lights in his right visual hemifield, followed by onset of a right visual field defect. On examination, the patient had a right homonymous hemianopsia that was most dense inferiorly by confrontation testing. Emergent CT scan of the head revealed a 2.5 × 3 cm hypodensity in the left occipital lobe, which was interpreted as an acute stroke. Continuous EEG monitoring captured left posterior quadrant seizures that were temporally correlated to the positive visual phenomena. Subsequent MRI of the brain with and without contrast revealed a conglomerate of centrally necrotic and peripherally enhancing mass lesions. On biopsy, a thick purulent material was drained and Gram stain of the sample revealed gram-positive beaded rods, which speciated to Nocardia farcinica. The patient was treated with a six-week course of intravenous meropenem and a one-year course of oral trimethroprim-sulfamethoxazole. On follow-up, the patient experienced resolution of the right visual field deficit.

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND:Legionella pneumophila is an important cause of pneumonia, however there is scant literature assessing the therapeutic benefit of corticosteroids in treatment. We sought to investigate the association between corticosteroid use and in-hospital mortality for patients hospitalized with Legionella pneumonia. METHODS:Data was collected retrospectively from January 2012 to July 2019 at a 705 bed hospital in New York City. Patients were included if they received a positive Legionella test. Exclusion criteria included age <18, concurrent immunosuppression, and HIV diagnosis. We assessed the relationship between corticosteroid use and in-hospital mortality. Statistical analyses were performed in RStudio. RESULTS:The study included 160 patients, among which 32 (20%) received steroids. Overall mortality was 7.5% (12.5% among steroid recipients, 6.2% among controls). 25% of patients were admitted to the ICU (37.5% among steroid recipients, 21.9% among controls). Adjusted analysis showed steroid recipients did not have significantly different mortality (aOR = 2.56, p = 0.436). Steroid use was not significantly associated with longer LOS (p = 0.22). Steroid use was significantly associated with hyperglycemia (aOR = 2.91, p = 0.018) and GI bleed (OR = 9.0, p = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS:We found that in patients hospitalized with Legionella pneumonia, corticosteroid administration was not significantly associated with longer hospitalization or mortality. All findings held true when adjusting for known predictors of pneumonia severity. Corticosteroid use was associated with increased rates of hyperglycemia and GIB requiring blood transfusion. The results of this study are consistent with guidelines recommending against routine use of corticosteroids in CAP.

Background/UNASSIGNED:Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) have poor outcomes and frequently develop comorbid conditions, including cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation. The implications of CMV reactivation in this setting are unknown. We aimed to investigate if treatment of CMV viremia improved in-hospital mortality in ICU patients with COVID-19. Methods/UNASSIGNED:In this single-center retrospective study, we analyzed clinical outcomes in patients diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia and CMV viremia admitted to an ICU from March 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021, who either received treatment (ganciclovir and/or valganciclovir) or received no treatment. The primary outcome was all-cause in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes were total hospital length of stay (LOS), ICU LOS, requirement for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support, duration of mechanical ventilation (MV), and predictors of in-hospital mortality. Results/UNASSIGNED: = .749). There was no significant difference in hospital LOS, though CMV-treated patients had a longer ICU LOS. Conclusions/UNASSIGNED:Treatment of CMV viremia did not decrease in-hospital mortality in ICU patients with COVID-19, but the sample size was limited. CMV viremia was significantly associated with total steroid dose received and longer ICU stay.

Neurologic manifestations of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 infection have received wide attention, but the mechanisms remain uncertain. Here, we describe computational data from public domain RNA-seq datasets and cerebrospinal fluid data from adult patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia that suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection of the central nervous system is unlikely. We found that the mRNAs encoding the ACE2 receptor and the TMPRSS2 transmembrane serine protease, both of which are required for viral entry into host cells, are minimally expressed in the major cell types of the brain. In addition, CSF samples from 13 adult encephalopathic COVID-19 patients diagnosed with the viral infection via nasopharyngeal swab RT-PCR did not show evidence for the virus. This particular finding is robust for two reasons. First, the RT-PCR diagnostic was validated for CSF studies using stringent criteria; and second, 61% of these patients had CSF testing within 1 week of a positive nasopharyngeal diagnostic test. We propose that neurologic sequelae of COVID-19 are not due to SARS-CoV-2 meningoencephalitis and that other etiologies are more likely mechanisms.

Although Candida species are common pathogens for nosocomial infections, Candida endocarditis is still considered a rare entity. Here, we report two cases of Candida parapsilosis endovascular infections in patients with prosthetic valves, both of which responded to combination antifungal therapy without surgical intervention. Additionally, T2 magnetic resonance (T2MR) was used to assess for resolution of invasive candidiasis. The first case is of an elderly man with Candida parapsilosis endovascular infection who responded to combination antifungal therapy with micafungin and fluconazole followed by suppressive therapy, without surgical intervention. The second case is of a middle-aged man with Candida parapsilosis prosthetic valve endocarditis who also responded to combination antifungal therapy with micafungin, flucytosine and fluconazole, without surgical intervention.

BACKGROUND:Parameters within reconstitution, storage, stability, and administration may be optimized according to the unique pharmacokinetics of each antibiotic to ensure a successful desensitization. OBJECTIVE:The study aims to evaluate the successfulness and safety of antibiotic desensitization protocols developed by the pharmacy department at our institution. METHODS:A retrospective study was conducted at an 800-bed, urban, tertiary care, academic medical center. A total of 36 patients 18 years of age or older, admitted to our intensive care units between March 2013 and July 2017, who underwent antibiotic desensitization utilizing our pharmacy developed protocols were included. RESULTS:In 36 patients, 61 desensitization cases were identified and included; 17 (47%) were male, 27 (75%) were Caucasian, and the median age was 55 years (range 19-94). In all, 15 different antibiotics were administered for desensitization, with meropenem (n = 12, 20%), ampicillin (n = 7, 11%), piperacillin/tazobactam (n = 7, 11%), and penicillin (n = 7, 11%) being the most common; 59 (97%) of 61 desensitizations were completed successfully with or without experiencing reactions, and 53 (89%) of the successful desensitization cases were completed without reactions. Two cases were categorized as anaphylaxis, which was severe enough to terminate the desensitization process. Of the 59 cases successfully completed, the 6 (10%) cases that experienced reactions were managed successfully during desensitization with completion of the process. Conclusion and Relevance: The findings suggest that our pharmacy-developed antibiotic desensitization protocols are successful and safe and may be adapted by other institutions.

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have become useful adjuncts in the treatment of patients with end-stage heart failure. LVAD implantation is associated with a unique set of problems; one such problem is device infection. We report our experience with flap salvage of infected and/or exposed LVAD hardware. METHODS: Between 2011 and 2016, 49 patients underwent LVAD implantation at our institution. Patients were then categorized by infectious status: systemic infection not directly involving the LVAD device, hardware infection responsive to antibiotics, and exposure of LVAD hardware or device infection refractory to antibiotics requiring debridement and flap coverage. RESULTS: Approximately 50% of device-related infections resolved with either oral or intravenous antibiotics while the other 50% necessitated debridement and coverage with healthy tissue. In total, 12 patients (24%) developed a device-related infection ranging from superficial driveline cellulitis to purulent pocket infections. Seven patients (14%) required extensive debridement and/or flap coverage. CONCLUSION: Early debridement and coverage of exposed hardware are crucial to successfully treating these LVAD infections.

OBJECTIVE:Driveline infection is a common complication of durable left ventricular assist device support. The majority involve the driveline exit site and can be treated with antibiotics and local wound care. Less frequently, these infections extend into deeper tissues and surgical debridement is necessary. Few studies have described the surgical strategy for treatment of deep driveline infection or have reported long-term outcomes. With a growing population of patients being implanted as destination therapy, there is an obvious need to evaluate and optimize treatment for complex driveline infections. METHODS:Outcomes of patients undergoing durable left ventricular assist device implantation at a single center between 2011 and 2017 were reviewed retrospectively. Data including occurrence of driveline infection, pathogen, time to driveline infection, and treatment strategy were abstracted from the electronic medical record. RESULTS:Driveline infection occurred in 10 (16.4%) of 61 patients at a median of 362 days (Q1 = 99, Q3 = 694) after primary left ventricular assist device implantation. Three (30.0%) of 10 driveline infections were categorized as deep and did not resolve with intravenous antibiotic therapy. In these cases, a multistage approach that included initial debridement and exteriorization of the infected driveline, followed by delayed surgical relocation of the driveline in a clean vascularized soft tissue bed, was used. Long-term device salvage was achieved in all cases. CONCLUSIONS:An aggressive surgical strategy, including debridement and formal relocation of the driveline exit site, can result in long-term device salvage after deep driveline infection. This approach is a less invasive alternative to device exchange for refractory driveline infections.

A global outbreak of invasive Mycobacterium chimaera infections after cardiac surgery has recently been linked to bioaerosols from contaminated heater-cooler units. The majority of cases have occurred after valvular surgery or aortic graft surgery and nearly half have resulted in death. To date, infections in patients with left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have not been characterized in the literature. We report two cases of device-associated M. chimaera infection in patients with continuous-flow LVADs and describe challenges related to diagnosis and management in this population.