CVPath Institute, Inc.’s Post

Actinomycosis is a rare, granulomatous infection of the skin characterized by the formation of multiple pus-filled abscesses (or bumps) in different body regions. The abscesses can become large and induce localized swelling. They also often form sinus tracts that drain yellowish pus, known as sulfur granules (typical of actinomyces infection). The pus is composed of clumps of dead bacteria and combating immune cells (neutrophils), which impart the yellow color.... https://lnkd.in/dHUNHcFW

Do You Really Know a UTI When You See It? Urinary tract infection (UTI) and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are the most common infections treated in hospitals. UTI and CAP are also commonly overdiagnosed, resulting in unnecessary antibiotic use and diagnostic delays. The current diagnostic paradigm includes UTI, asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB), or not UTI, but the researchers believe these categories exclude for more ambiguous clinical cases, such as patients whose bacteria counts are low but who are symptomatic, or when nonspecific symptoms make it difficult to determine whether treatment with antibiotics is appropriate. How many patients hospitalized with a documented UTI are arrived at from a CDI query, looking for the proverbial CC to raise the CDI"s CC/MCC Capture Rate as part of their Key Performance Indicators. #CDI, #misdiagnsoisofuTI, #asymptonaticbateriuria, https://lnkd.in/eWndjpT9

UTI - Inpatient vs Outpatient care Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are commonly treated on an outpatient basis with oral antibiotics. However, there are situations where UTIs should be treated as an inpatient acute care admission. Here are some scenarios in which hospitalization for UTI may be necessary: 1. Severe Symptoms: If the patient exhibits severe symptoms such as high fever, chills, severe pain, and vomiting, hospitalization may be necessary for closer monitoring and more intensive treatment. In the worst-case scenario, if the UTI has progressed to sepsis (UTI with organ dysfunction/s due to an extreme immune response), sepsis from the UTI becomes the reason for the acute inpatient admission and becomes the principal diagnosis. 2. Complicated UTI: In cases where the UTI is considered complicated, such as in individuals with anatomical abnormalities, urinary retention, or underlying medical conditions like diabetes or kidney disease, inpatient treatment may be necessary to ensure appropriate management. 3. Recurrent UTIs: If the patient has a history of recurrent UTIs that have not responded to outpatient treatment or if the infection is caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria, hospitalization for intravenous antibiotics and further evaluation may be needed. 4. Compromised Immune System: Individuals with a weakened immune system, such as those undergoing chemotherapy, organ transplant recipients, or HIV/AIDS patients, are at higher risk of developing severe complications from UTIs and may require inpatient treatment. 5. Pregnancy: Pregnant women with UTIs, especially those at risk of complications such as pyelonephritis, should receive prompt and thorough treatment, which may involve hospitalization to prevent adverse outcomes for the mother and the fetus. In these circumstances, healthcare providers may opt for inpatient acute care admission to ensure the appropriate management of the UTI and prevent potential complications. #MedicalNecessity #InpatientvsObservation #UtilizationManagement #CDI #AHIMA #ACDIS #PhysicianAdvisors

Bloodstream infection: Derivation and validation of a reliable and multidimensional prognostic score based on a machine learning model (BLISCO) APIC https://lnkd.in/gXAfsHuY

Please check out our recent publication in Cureus regarding the effects of COVID-19 infection on the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing surgical repair of humerus fractures!

After the Revived and Ischeamia trials come the Prevent trial: is it a Paradox? What does the future hold for stable coronary artery disease? Looking forward to new recommendations

There is limited evidence, consensus and guidance yet on the appropriate use of suppressive antimicrobial therapy as part of treatment strategies of prosthetic joint infection. If this topic interests you than check out this paper published in jbji by Hanssen et. al https://lnkd.in/gUgUvMDK

Children with acute encephalopathy after a febrile infection may pose a diagnostic challenge. In this interesting paper, Russell Dale and colleagues propose diagnostic criteria for different infection triggered encephalopathy syndromes (IRES) and their imaging characteristics. Hopefully these criteria will help to gain more insight in the pathophysiology of these conditions. Reina Sol - Kloet,

At last, evidence for the connected interplay between elevated microclots and elevated NET formation, both observed in the blood during severe acute COVID-19 infection and then remaining persistently elevated in those suffering from chronic LC PASC is being reported in May at the ATS 2024 conference by an MGH-Boston clinical research team. This is something I have been hypothesizing for quite some time. Now we need a safe and effective timely therapy to help patients remove these microthrombi when they are persistently elevated to prevent the development of larger plasmin-resistant intravascular thrombi and atheromas that can cause life-threatening ischemia. I continue to recommend we prognostically track them and try removing them using covalently immobilized heparin whole blood purification to see if there is significant patient relief of LC symptoms. The "Seraph 100" https://lnkd.in/gg4dzRB6.

My 1st commentary 📓 - a short review on hyaluronan and COVID-19 infection. In the lungs🫁, HA is hugely increased and fragmented following severe infection. But we don't yet know what these HA matrices 'look like' in detail and what they mean for lung health? 💡