Objective: To evaluate the etiology of and factors associated with pulmonary infection in kidney and kidney-pancreas transplant recipients.
Methods: This was a single-center case-control study conducted between December of 2017 and March of 2020 at a referral center for kidney transplantation in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The case:control ratio was 1:1.8. Cases included kidney or kidney-pancreas transplant recipients hospitalized with pulmonary infection. Controls included kidney or kidney-pancreas transplant recipients without pulmonary infection and matched to cases for sex, age group, and donor type (living or deceased).
Results: A total of 197 patients were included in the study. Of those, 70 were cases and 127 were controls. The mean age was 55 years (for cases) and 53 years (for controls), with a predominance of males. Corticosteroid use, bronchiectasis, and being overweight were associated with pulmonary infection risk in the multivariate logistic regression model. The most common etiologic agent of infection was cytomegalovirus (in 14.3% of the cases), followed by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (in 10%), Histoplasma capsulatum (in 7.1%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (in 7.1%).
Conclusions: Corticosteroid use, bronchiectasis, and being overweight appear to be risk factors for pulmonary infection in kidney/kidney-pancreas transplant recipients, endemic mycoses being prevalent in this population. Appropriate planning and follow-up play an important role in identifying kidney and kidney-pancreas transplant recipients at risk of pulmonary infection.
Objective: To identify factors associated with prolonged weaning and mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to ICUs and under invasive mechanical ventilation.
Methods: Between March of 2020 and July of 2021, we retrospectively recorded clinical and ventilatory characteristics of critically ill COVID-19 patients from the day of intubation to the outcome. We classified the patients regarding the weaning period in accordance with established criteria. A logistic regression analysis was performed to identify variables associated with prolonged weaning and mortality.
Results: The study involved 303 patients, 100 of whom (33.0%) had a prolonged weaning period. Most of the patients were male (69.6%), 136 (44.8%) had more than 50% of pulmonary involvement on chest CT, and 93 (30.6%) had severe ARDS. Within the prolonged weaning group, 62% died within 60 days. Multivariate analysis revealed that lung involvement greater than 50% on CT and delay from intubation to the first separation attempt from mechanical ventilation were significantly associated with prolonged weaning, whereas age and prolonged weaning were significantly associated with mortality.
Conclusions: Prolonged weaning can be used as a milestone in predicting mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients. Lung involvement greater than 50% on CT and delay from intubation to the first separation attempt from mechanical ventilation were identified as significant predictors of prolonged weaning. These results might provide valuable information for healthcare professionals when making clinical decisions regarding the management of critically ill COVID-19 patients who are on mechanical ventilation.