By Gabrielle Capaldo
Telemedicine trends, as evaluated before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, revealed that the practice is most accepted by younger physicians, with dermatologists viewing limits to physical exams as its main barrier, according to a study. Read the article in Healio.
Findings seen for recipients across solid organ transplant types
By Lori Solomon
(HealthDay News) — Maintenance immunosuppressive drugs are associated with an increased risk for COVID-19 hospitalization in solid organ transplant recipients, according to a study published online Nov. 7 in JAMA Network Open. Read the article in HealthDay.
By Justin Cooper
Kidneys from donors with COVID-19 history are not associated with worse transplant outcomes and are used at higher rates now than earlier in the pandemic, according to a study presented at ASN Kidney Week.
“Every possible strategy to increase the organ pool is important, including using organs from patients infected with COVID-19,” Mengmeng Ji, PhD, MS, MBBS, lead author of the study, told Healio. Read the full article in Healio.
By Monica Stonehill
BOSTON — Researchers reported similar patient and allograft survival 1 year after liver transplantation between COVID-19 positive and negative donors, showing potential for expanding organ access, according to data at The Liver Meeting.
“During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the volume of liver transplants decreased worldwide,” Roy X. Wang, MD, of Penn Medicine, said in a related Q&A with AASLD.
Read the full story in Healio.
By Andrew Rhoades
About 20% of patients with COVID-19 experienced virologic rebound after receiving Paxlovid, according to an observational study published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
“We conducted this study to address lingering questions about Paxlovid and virologic rebound in COVID-19 treatment,” Mark Siedner, MD, MPH, an infectious disease clinician and researcher in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital, said in a press release. Read the full article in Healio.
By Erich Martin
Approximately 20% of patients with solid organ transplants, rare autoimmune rheumatic diseases or lymphoid cancers fail to mount a response to three or more COVID-19 vaccine doses, according to data published in The Lancet Rheumatology.
However, the researchers additionally concluded that the proportion of patients who are non-responders decreases with sequential booster doses. Read the full article in Healio.
Vaccines lower the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death.
By Mary Kekatos
As the United States heads into the cold-weather months, respiratory virus season has also arrived, with cases of influenza and COVID-19 likely to increase.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently recommends that everyone 6 months and older stay up-to-date and get a flu vaccine and a COVID vaccine, and that it’s safe to get both at the same time. Read the full article in ABC News.
The following is a summary of “Thromboembolic complications after COVID-19 in kidney transplant recipients,” published in the September 2023 issue of Nephrology by Artan et al.
COVID-19 is associated with increased thromboembolic risk in the general population, and data is lacking on this risk in kidney transplant recipients. Researchers performed a retrospective study to assess the prevalence and risk factors for thrombotic complications in kidney transplant patients. Read more in Physician’s Weekly.
By Kristin Jenkins
Among patients with COVID-19-associated lung injury (CALI), 45% develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and pulmonary fibrosis. Most cannot be weaned from mechanical ventilation or extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and lung transplantation remains one of the only treatment options.
But there was encouraging data from a retrospective case control cohort study.
Read the full article in MedPage Today.
By Nicole Lou
Scientists found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can directly infiltrate atherosclerotic plaques in coronary arteries and trigger an inflammatory response, providing one mechanism for how COVID-19 infection can lead to cardiovascular complications in some people.
Directly infected atherosclerotic tissue was found in both people who died with severe COVID-19 and underlying atherosclerosis and an ex vivo model of human vascular explants.
Read the complete article in MedPage Today.