A distinction between infections of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) and cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) is warranted as they differ markedly in incidence, microbiologic profiles, clinical presentations, and extraction feasibility. These differences necessitate tailored suppressive antibiotic therapy (SAT) strategies. This commentary highlights the need for device-specific SAT approaches.
Background: Simplified approaches to HCV treatment delivery are needed to meet elimination goals. However, the impact of low-touch strategies on individuals at higher risk due to treatment failure or reinfection is unknown. We estimated HCV reinfection rates, and the impact of resistance associated substitutions (RASs) on response in the ACTG A5360 (MINMON) trial.
Methods: HCV RNA evaluations were scheduled at weeks 0, 24 (sustained viral response [SVR] visit), 48 and 72. Participants with post-entry HCV RNA ≥ lower limit of quantification (LLoQ) had deep sequencing of NS5A and NS5B genes performed. Phylogenetic analysis distinguished between reinfection and treatment failure. Reinfection rates per 100 person-years (PYS) were calculated with 95%CI constructed using Poisson distribution.
Results: Of 397 participants with post-entry HCV RNA, 29 had ≥LLoQ and available sequencing data. Of those 29, 5 participants initially designated as non-SVR, and 12 participants initially attaining SVR (evaluated at week-24) were determined to have reinfections (total 17 reinfections) (reinfection rate 3.9/100 PYS [95%CI 2.4-6.2]). All 17 participants with HCV reinfection were male (13 MSM and 15 with HIV). Of 29 had ≥LLoQ, 12 were identified as treatment failure. SVR (excluding reinfections) in presence and absence of baseline RAS was 93.5% (43/46) and 97% (337/346), respectively, with an overall SVR rate of 97.0% [95%CI 94.8-98.3] (385/397).
Conclusions: Accounting for reinfections, SVR in MINMON was 97.0% further supporting simplified HCV treatment. No significant difference in SVR was found by baseline velpatasvir RAS. The high reinfection rate, especially among MSM with HIV, underscores the need to scale-up evidence-based interventions to reduce reinfection.
Background: Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA), once limited to immunocompromised patients, is now a severe complication in critically ill ICU patients without classic risk factors. Due to the difficulty of obtaining histological evidence, its diagnosis relies on poorly tested algorithms in real-world settings.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective multicenter (n=9) cohort study including 202 patients with IPA. Patients were classified using a multistep process based on the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer/Mycosis Study Group (EORTC-MSG), Invasive-Fungal Diseases in Adult Patients in Intensive Care Unit (FUNDICU), Aspergillus ICU (Asp-ICU), and Asp-ICU with biomarkers (Asp-ICU-BM) criteria. We then evaluated the predictive performance of these criteria against the clinical cohort and histologically proven cases.
Results: Among 202 patients, 78 had EORTC-MSG host factors and were classified accordingly, with the EORTC-MSG criteria achieving 100% agreement in identifying clinical and histologically proven cases. In 112 ICU patients without EORTC-MSG host factors, overall agreement was 53% for FUNDICU, 4% for Asp-ICU, and 26% for Asp-ICU-BM compared to the clinical cohort. Validation against histologically proven cases showed FUNDICU had 44% sensitivity and 75% specificity, Asp-ICU 6% sensitivity and 100% specificity, and Asp-ICU-BM 28% sensitivity and 63% specificity. Adding acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and post-cardiac surgery to the FUNDICU criteria improved sensitivity to 97% with a specificity of 63%. The remaining 12 patients lacked EORTC-MSG host factors and were not in the ICU, highlighting a novel classification system.
Conclusion: EORTC-MSG and FUNDICU IPA classification systems are useful for the assignment of most patients with IPA. Incorporating post-operative complications after cardiac surgery and ARDS enhanced the diagnostic accuracy of FUNDICU.