Faculty Bibliography

OBJECTIVE/UNASSIGNED:To identify the optimal gestational age of planned delivery in pregnancies complicated by chronic hypertension requiring antihypertensive medications that minimizes the risk of adverse perinatal events and maternal morbidity. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:weeks versus expectant management. Patients with other maternal or fetal conditions were excluded. The primary outcome was a composite of adverse perinatal outcomes including stillbirth, neonatal death, assisted ventilation, cord pH < 7.0, 5-minute Apgar ≤5, diagnosis of respiratory disorder, and neonatal seizures. The secondary outcomes included preeclampsia, eclampsia, primary cesarean delivery, postpartum readmission, and infant stay greater than 5 days. Odds ratios were estimated with multiple logistic regression and adjusted for confounding effects. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:A total of 555 patients met inclusion criteria. Patients who underwent planned delivery at 37 weeks compared to expectant management did not appear to be at higher risk of adverse perinatal outcomes (14.9% vs 10.4%, aOR 1.49, 95% CI: 0.77-2.88). Similarly, we did not find a difference in the primary outcome in patients who underwent planned delivery at 38 weeks versus those expectantly managed (9.7% vs 10.1%, (aOR 0.84, 95% CI: 0.39-1.76). There were no differences in the rates of primary cesarean or preeclampsia at 37 and 38 weeks. CONCLUSION/UNASSIGNED:Our findings suggest that there is no difference in neonatal or maternal outcomes for chronic hypertensive patients on medication if delivery is planned or expectantly managed at 37 or 38 weeks' gestation.

BACKGROUND:Limited information exists on mucocutaneous disease and its relation to course of COVID-19. OBJECTIVE:To estimate prevalence of mucocutaneous findings, characterize morphologic patterns, and describe relationship to course in hospitalized adults with COVID-19. METHODS:Prospective cohort study at 2 tertiary hospitals (Northwell Health) between May 11, 2020 and June 15, 2020. RESULTS:Among 296 hospitalized adults with COVID-19, 35 (11.8%) had at least 1 disease-related eruption. Patterns included ulcer (13/35, 37.1%), purpura (9/35, 25.7%), necrosis (5/35, 14.3%), nonspecific erythema (4/35, 11.4%), morbilliform eruption (4/35, 11.4%), pernio-like lesions (4/35, 11.4%), and vesicles (1/35, 2.9%). Patterns also showed anatomic site specificity. A greater proportion of patients with mucocutaneous findings used mechanical ventilation (61% vs 30%), used vasopressors (77% vs 33%), initiated dialysis (31% vs 9%), had thrombosis (17% vs 11%), and had in-hospital mortality (34% vs 12%) compared with those without mucocutaneous findings. Patients with mucocutaneous disease were more likely to use mechanical ventilation (adjusted prevalence ratio, 1.98; 95% confidence interval, 1.37-2.86); P < .001). Differences for other outcomes were attenuated after covariate adjustment and did not reach statistical significance. LIMITATIONS:Skin biopsies were not performed. CONCLUSIONS:Distinct mucocutaneous patterns were identified in hospitalized adults with COVID-19. Mucocutaneous disease may be linked to more severe clinical course.

Functional characterization of bacterial proteins lags far behind the identification of new protein families. This is especially true for bacterial species that are more difficult to grow and genetically manipulate than model systems such as Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis To facilitate functional characterization of mycobacterial proteins, we have established a Mycobacterial Systems Resource (MSR) using the model organism Mycobacterium smegmatis This resource focuses specifically on 1,153 highly conserved core genes that are common to many mycobacterial species, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, in order to provide the most relevant information and resources for the mycobacterial research community. The MSR includes both biological and bioinformatic resources. The biological resource includes (i) an expression plasmid library of 1,116 genes fused to a fluorescent protein for determining protein localization; (ii) a library of 569 precise deletions of nonessential genes; and (iii) a set of 843 CRISPR-interference (CRISPRi) plasmids specifically targeted to silence expression of essential core genes and genes for which a precise deletion was not obtained. The bioinformatic resource includes information about individual genes and a detailed assessment of protein localization. We anticipate that integration of these initial functional analyses and the availability of the biological resource will facilitate studies of these core proteins in many Mycobacterium species, including the less experimentally tractable pathogens M. abscessus, M. avium, M. kansasii, M. leprae, M. marinum, M. tuberculosis, and M. ulcerans