Altered platelet lipidome in bleeding patients with unexplained platelet function defects.

In patients with a mild to moderate bleeding disorder (MBD) and abnormal light transmission aggregometry (LTA), a platelet function defect (PFD) is suspected. However, in many patients with PFD, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Given the essential role of lipids in platelet signaling, platelet lipid profiles in MBD patients with unexplained PFD may provide valuable diagnostic and mechanistic insights.

Serial Changes in Vitamin D Status in Patients During Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome and Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.

: Therapeutic interventions, such as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy, in patients suffering from severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) may reduce their vitamin D levels. Many observational studies have shown associations between poor outcomes and low vitamin D levels in critically ill patients. This retrospective study primarily aimed to investigate the time-dependent changes in vitamin D levels and the correlation of vitamin D levels with disease severity and inflammatory markers in patients suffering from ARDS receiving ECMO therapy.

Associations of Thyroid and Parathyroid Hormones with Arterial Stiffness in Emergency Department Patients: A Prospective Cross-Sectional Study.

Cardiovascular diseases are prevalent entities, especially in emergency patients. Arterial stiffness is a known predictor of cardiovascular risk and mortality and is quantified by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV). It is caused in part by vascular calcification, but exact details of the underlying mechanisms are yet to be elucidated, and current data suggest endocrine influences.

Passive maternal immunity in children born to women with systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease - A case-control study.

Introduction: The transplacental transfer of maternal antibodies is essential for neonatal immunity but can be affected by maternal health conditions and pregnancy complications. In women with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARD) this transfer may be influenced by the autoimmune condition itself and/or the immunosuppressive therapies administered during pregnancy.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the transplacental transfer and efficacy of vaccine-induced antibodies in pregnant women with SARD compared to healthy controls.

The Relation of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2, Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System Inhibitors, and Arterial Stiffness in Acute COVID-19 Emergency Department Patients-A Prospective Observational Study.

: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can damage the endothelium and increase arterial stiffness, potentially leading to adverse cardiovascular events. In parallel, systemic inflammation in COVID-19 also impacts endothelial function. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) promotes vasodilation and anti-inflammatory effects, but also facilitates SARS-CoV-2 entry into human cells.

Autoantibody development is associated with clinical severity of COVID-19: A cohort study.

Viral infections, including respiratory diseases such as Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), are hypothesized to contribute to the onset of autoimmune disorders. Although elevated levels of autoantibodies have been observed following COVID-19, the role of specific autoantibodies linked to autoimmune diseases and their correlation with disease severity remains poorly defined. In this study, we used a comprehensive autoantibody panel to assess the autoantibody production across different cohorts of COVID-19 patients, categorized by disease severity.

Short- and long-term risk stratification in acutely ill medical patients by implementing ankle-brachial index and pulse wave velocity in the emergency setting.

Objective: Ankle-brachial index (ABI) and carotid-femoral pulse-wave velocity (cfPWV) are well-established surrogate markers of overall cardiovascular risk. However, their prognostic value towards short- and long-term mortality in an emergency medicine setting is yet unknown.

Approach And Results: Acutely ill medical patients systematically underwent cfPWV and ABI measurements at the emergency department of a tertiary care hospital.

Humoral and cellular response to the third COVID-19 vaccination in patients with inborn errors of immunity or mannose-binding lectin deficiency : A prospective controlled open-label trial.

Impaired immune response to COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) vaccination has been reported in patients with inborn errors of immunity (IEI). Repetitive vaccinations are recommended for this vulnerable group. Due to the high diversity within IEI patients, additional safety and immunogenicity data are needed to better understand these aspects especially in less common immunodeficiency syndromes.

The Role of hCG and Histamine in Emesis Gravidarum and Use of a Chewing Gum Containing Vitamin C as a Treatment Option: A Double-Blinded, Randomized, Controlled Trial.

Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NVP), or emesis gravidarum, is a frequent complication of early gestation with unclear causes, suspected to involve genetic, hormonal, and gastrointestinal factors. Our study investigated the association of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), histamine, diamine oxidase (DAO), thyroxine and pyridoxine and the severity of NVP symptoms and assessed the efficacy of a vitamin C-containing chewing gum as a potential NVP treatment. In this prospective, double-blinded, randomized, controlled trial, 111 participants were assigned to receive vitamin C-containing chewing gum, placebo gum, or no treatment at two follow-ups during early pregnancy.

Immunophenotyping in routine clinical practice for predicting treatment response and adverse events in patients with MS.

Background: Recent studies proposed cellular immunoprofiling as a surrogate for predicting treatment response and/or stratifying the occurrence of adverse events (AEs) in persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). However, applicability in real-world circumstances is not sufficiently addressed.

Objective: We aimed to explore whether standard routine clinical leukocyte phenotyping before treatment initiation could help stratify patients according to treatment response or AEs in a real-world MS cohort.

Impaired retinal oxygen metabolism and perfusion are accompanied by plasma protein and lipid alterations in recovered COVID-19 patients.

The aim of the present study was to investigate retinal microcirculatory and functional metabolic changes in patients after they had recovered from a moderate to severe acute COVID-19 infection. Retinal perfusion was quantified using laser speckle flowgraphy. Oxygen saturation and retinal calibers were assessed with a dynamic vessel analyzer.

Immunogenicity and safety of COVID-19 booster vaccination: A population-based clinical trial to identify the best vaccination strategy.

Background: Various SARS-CoV-2 variants of concerns (VOCs) characterized by higher transmissibility and immune evasion have emerged. Despite reduced vaccine efficacy against VOCs, currently available vaccines provide protection. Population-based evidence on the humoral immune response after booster vaccination is crucial to guide future vaccination strategies and in preparation for imminent COVID-19 waves.

Activated protein C and free protein S in patients with mild to moderate bleeding disorders.

Background: Underlying mechanisms for bleeding and impaired thrombin generation (TG) and plasma clot formation (PCF) in patients with mild to moderate bleeding disorders (MBDs) are still to be elucidated, especially in bleeding disorder of unknown cause (BDUC). The role of the natural anticoagulants activated protein C (APC) and free protein S (PS) has not yet been investigated in this patient population.

Aims: To analyze antigen levels of APC and PS in patients with MBDs and BDUC and investigate associations to clinical bleeding phenotype and severity as well as and hemostatic capacity.

Effect of monovalent COVID-19 vaccines on viral interference between SARS-CoV-2 and several DNA viruses in patients with long-COVID syndrome.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) reactivation may be involved in long-COVID symptoms, but reactivation of other viruses as a factor has received less attention. Here we evaluated the reactivation of parvovirus-B19 and several members of the Herpesviridae family (DNA viruses) in patients with long-COVID syndrome. We hypothesized that monovalent COVID-19 vaccines inhibit viral interference between SARS-CoV-2 and several DNA viruses in patients with long-COVID syndrome, thereby reducing clinical symptoms.

Evaluation of the Sysmex DI-60 digital morphology analyzer on Wright-stained samples with a focus on prevalence-dependent quality indicators.

Background: This study aims to evaluate the trueness of the DI-60 Digital Cell Imaging Analyzer on Wright-stained samples with a focus on prevalence-dependent quality indicators for differential blood counts requested from non-hematology wards.

Methods: Two hundred and ninety-nine samples were included into this performance evaluation study at the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna. The following aspects were verified: (a) the reliability of automatedly pre-classified differential counts, (b) the concordance of DI-60 counts with manual-microscopic differential counts and (c) the agreement of DI-60 and manual-microscopic results regarding clinically relevant findings.

The necessity of repeat testing for von Willebrand disease in adult patients with mild to moderate bleeding disorders.

Background: In patients with mild-to-moderate bleeding disorders (MBD), von Willebrand disease (VWD) is diagnosed at von Willebrand factor (VWF) levels ≤50 IU/dL. Although VWF levels are unstable, repeated testing for VWD diagnosis is not necessarily advised in recent guidelines.

Objectives: To analyze the relevance of repeated VWF testing to diagnose VWD in patients with MBD.

Monitoring of Sotrovimab-Levels as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis in Kidney Transplant Recipients Not Responding to SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines.

Sotrovimab, a monoclonal antibody against SARS-CoV-2, is used as a pre-exposition prophylaxis (PrEP) against COVID-19, but monitoring strategies using routine test systems have not been defined. Twenty kidney transplant recipients without antibodies after vaccination received 500 mg Sotrovimab. Antibody levels were quantified over eight weeks using live-virus neutralization (BA1 and BA2), antibody binding assays (TrimericS, Elecsys, QuantiVAC) and surrogate virus neutralization tests (sVNTs; TECOmedical, cPass and NeutraLISA).

SARS-CoV-2 infections in "less visible" hospital staff: The roles and safety of environmental services and allied health professionals.

Background: During the early SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, all healthcare workers had specific and essential functions. However, environmental services (e.g.

Serum sPD-L1 levels are elevated in patients with viral diseases, bacterial sepsis or in patients with impaired renal function compared to healthy blood donors.

Objectives: Immune checkpoints play an important role in maintaining the balance of the immune system and in the development of autoimmune diseases. A central checkpoint molecule is the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1, CD279) which is typically located on the surface of T cells. Its primary ligand PD-L1 is expressed on antigen presenting cells and on cancer cells.

Breakthrough infections with SARS-CoV-2 omicron efficiently boost antibodies from previous BNT162b2 vaccinations.

Objective: To investigate whether SARS-CoV-2 omicron breakthrough infection in individuals after three doses of wildtype-based BNT162b2 increases antibody levels measured by a commercially available wildtype-based immunoassay.

Methods: 16 of 21 individuals in a BNT162b2 vaccination cohort (recruited 129 [129-135] days after dose 3) experienced a breakthrough infection (BTI) between March and September 2022. Antibodies to the receptor binding domain (RBP) of the spike protein (Anti-S) were quantified using the wildtype-based Elecsys SARS-CoV-2 S assay (Roche).

Prognostic significance of mean corpuscular volume in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and multimodal treatment.

Aim Of The Study: Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) has shown mounting evidence as a prognostic indicator in a number of malignancies. The aim of this study was to examine the prognostic potential of pretherapeutic MCV among patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) who underwent upfront resection or resection after neoadjuvant treatment (NT).

Patients And Methods: Consecutive patients with PDAC who underwent pancreatic resection between 1997 and 2019 were included in this study.

Moderate COVID-19 Disease Is Associated With Reduced Bone Turnover.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) infection has been associated with musculoskeletal manifestations, including a negative effect on bone health. Bone formation was found to be reduced in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. The aim of this case-control study was to determine whether bone metabolism is coupled or uncoupled in COVID-19 patients with moderately severe disease, the latter expressed by the requirement of hospitalization but not intensive care treatment, no need for mechanical ventilation, and a C-reactive protein level of (median [quartiles], 16.