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When We Can Stop Pre-Procedure Screening For COVID-19
Briefly noted: S Sultan, SM Siddique et al. Gastroenterol 2020; 159: 1935-1948. Full text: AGA Institute Rapid Review and Recommendations on the Role of Pre-Procedure SARS-CoV-2 Testing and Endoscopy
Table 1 provides a summary of the recommendations and indicates a threshold for which routine pre-procedure testing may not be needed:
- “For endoscopy centers where the prevalence of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection is low (<0.5%), the AGA suggests against implementing a pretesting strategy.”
- Conditional recommendation, very low certainty evidence
- Rationale: “In low-prevalence settings, a pretesting strategy may not be informative for triage due to the high number of false positives, thus PPE availability may drive decision-making.”
My take: Particularly after the rollout of vaccination to health care providers, routine testing for SARS-CoV-2 is not likely to be needed once the prevalence drops to low levels.
Related blog posts:
More “LIGHT” in Understanding Eosinophilic Esophagitis
Briefly noted: MC Manresa et al. Gastroenterol 2020; 159: 1778-1792. Full text: Increased Production of LIGHT by T Cells in Eosinophilic Esophagitis Promotes Differentiation of Esophageal Fibroblasts Toward an Inflammatory Phenotype
The authors investigated the effects of tumor necrosis factor superfamily member 14 (TNFSF14, also called LIGHT) on fibroblasts in EoE.
Key findings:
- LIGHT was up-regulated in the esophageal tissues from patients with EoE, compared with control individuals
- Stimulation of esophageal fibroblasts with LIGHT induced inflammatory gene transcription
My take: The authors show that patients with EoE had proinflammatory fibroblasts in the epithelium. Further, they show that eosinophil-fibroblast interaction was dependent on intact LIGHT signaling.
Related blog posts:
- New 2020 Eosinophilic Esophagitis Guidelines | gutsandgrowth
- Phase 3 Budesonide Trial
- Head-to-Head: Budesonide vs Fluticasone for Eosinophilic Esophagitis | gutsandgrowth
- Grading Treatment Response in Eosinophilic Esophagitis | gutsandgrowth
- Orodispensable Budesonide Tablets for EoE
- What is EoE?
- EoE Update 2018 (Dr. Seth Marcus)
More on COVID-19 Vaccines
Yesterday, Evan Anderson (infectious disease) shared some updates on COVID-19 vaccines.
- Dr. Anderson noted that more research is needed in children, pregnant women and immunocompromised populations. Immunocompromised patients may have a lower response rate to vaccination.
- The South African 501Y.V2 COVID-19 variant may be less responsive to neutralization from donor plasma and the vaccines may be less effective in this variant.
- He reviewed ACIP recommendations -available from CDC website as well
- Dr. Anderson noted there is a good response to vaccination even in those with a lack of adverse effects with vaccination
- Immunity after vaccination: data has been published showing good antibody levels at 3 months. Moderna has stated that they expect vaccine will provide immunity for at least a year
- Immunity after infection with COVID-19: at least 3 months. Those with milder infection are more likely to get reinfected.
- Antibody testing after vaccination to assess for immunity is not recommended
Vaccination Recommendations for IBD Patients
Siegel CA, Melmed GY, McGovern DP, et al. Full text link: SARS-CoV-2 vaccination for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases: recommendations from an international consensus meeting Gut Published Online First: 20 January 2021. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2020-324000
In the article, they note “the exception is for any live-attenuated virus vaccines or replication-competent viral vector vaccines that come to market.” Currently, all of the vaccines are inactivated (not live-attenuated).
These recommendations apply to approved populations which currently do not include pediatric patients or patients who are pregnant.
Related blog posts:
- NPR Story: How Clinic Staff Decided to Accept COVID-19 Vaccine
- COVID-19 -How India Turned Things Around & Vaccine Information for Patients
- Visual Data of Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine
- Expert Update on COVID-19 Pandemic and Vaccine Rollout
From Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta:
Choosing the Right IV Fluids
As noted in previous posts, I tend to favor isotonic IV fluids due to risk of hyponatremia with hypotonic fluids. A new study (below) indicates that some isotonic fluids are associated with an increased risk of electrolyte disturbances. Thanks to Ben Gold for this reference.
- S Lehtiranta et al. Full text: Risk of Electrolyte Disorders in Acutely Ill Children Receiving Commercially Available Plasmalike Isotonic Fluids: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Pediatr. 2021;175(1):28–35. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.3383
In this unblinded, randomized clinical trial with 614 children, participants were randomized to receive commercially available plasmalike isotonic fluid therapy (140 mmol/L of sodium and 5 mmol/L potassium in 5% dextrose) or moderately hypotonic fluid therapy (80 mmol/L sodium and 20 mmol/L potassium in 5% dextrose).
Key findings:
- Clinically significant electrolyte disorder was more common in children receiving plasmalike isotonic fluid therapy:
- Hypokalemia developed in 57 patients (19%) and hypernatremia developed in 4 patients (1.3%) receiving isotonic fluids; in total, this group had 61 of 308 patients [20%]) with electrolyte disturbance, compared with 9 of 306 patients [2.9%] of those receiving hypotonic fluid therapy (P < .001)
- “Severe” hypokalemia (<3.0 mmol/L) was significantly more common in patients receiving isotonic fluid therapy 8 of 308 patients (2.6%) compared with 1 of 306 patients ( 0.3%) patients receiving hypotonic fluid therapy
My take: In the U.S., this suggests that fluids like lactated ringer’s which also has a low amount of potassium should not be routinely used. When choosing an isotonic fluid in children, D5 Normal Saline (0.9%) with added potassium may be more suitable..
Related blog posts:
- AAP Recommends Isotonic Maintenance Fluids (2019)
- Why an ERCP Study Matters to Pediatric Care
- Why D51/2 NS was the Right Choice for IVFs in the 1950s!
- What’s critical to you | gutsandgrowth
- We Still Have More to Learn” | gutsandgrowth
- Has Your Hospital Restricted Quarter-Normal Saline …
Disclaimer: This blog, gutsandgrowth, assumes no responsibility for any use or operation of any method, product, instruction, concept or idea contained in the material herein or for any injury or damage to persons or property (whether products liability, negligence or otherwise) resulting from such use or operation. These blog posts are for educational purposes only. Specific dosing of medications (along with potential adverse effects) should be confirmed by prescribing physician. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, the gutsandgrowth blog cautions that independent verification should be made of diagnosis and drug dosages. The reader is solely responsible for the conduct of any suggested test or procedure. This content is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment provided by a qualified healthcare provider. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a condition
“Socialism” is Already Here & Increasing in U.S. Health Care
The U.S. government now pays for nearly 50% of health care expenditures (Government Now Pays For Nearly 50 Percent Of Health Care Spending, An Increase Driven By Baby Boomers Shifting Into Medicare, Kaiser Health News, 2/21/19). Both in adults and children, the share of public sector spending is increasing. The biggest areas of costs include Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP and Veterans health care. The U.S. government also funds the HHS which includes the FDA, NIH, CDC, and AHRQ.
A recent commentary (JM Perrin et al. NEJM 2020; 383: 2595-2598. Medicaid and Child Health Equity) describes what is happening with Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Key points:
- Over the past 20 years, the proportion of pediatric health care coverage provided by Medicaid and CHIP has been increasing. In 1997, these programs represented about 15% of health care coverage compared to ~35% in 2018. This corresponds to reductions in employer-provided coverage
- Unlike private insurance, Medicaid is always available as it doesn’t have fixed enrollment periods
- Medicaid disproportionately covers minority populations
- State funding of Medicaid creates challenges. “States have routinely used strategies for limiting enrollment”
- “Medicaid’s low physician payment rates, which average about two-thirds of rates paid by Medicare for the same services, depress physician participation…Lack of access to specialists poses additional problems in many communities”
- The authors recommend the following:
- Medicaid should be expanded to cover all children from birth through 21 years of age
- The federal government should assume full financial responsibility
- Medicaid payments should parallel national Medicare standards
Related blog posts:
- “Health Insurance Is Broken”
- NY Times: America can afford a world-class health system. Why don’t we have one?
- We are Last in Health Care Among High Income Countries
- How The IRS Proved That Health Insurance Saves Lives | gutsandgrowth
- Zip code or Genetic code -which is more important? gutsandgrowth
- New study finds 45,000 deaths annually linked to lack of health …
- A Leading Cause of Mortality in U.S…. | gutsandgrowth
- No Exaggeration: Too Many Children Are Dying in the U.S.
- “America’s Huge Health Care Problem”
- Healthcare: Where the Frauds are Legal
Very Low Risk of Malignancy with Celiac Disease and Even Lower After Starting a Gluten Free Diet
A recent study (L Emilsson et al. Gastroenterol 2020; 159: 1686-1694. Full/open access: Risk of Small Bowel Adenocarcinoma, Adenomas, and Carcinoids in a Nationwide Cohort of Individuals With Celiac Disease) quantifies the risk of small bowel adenocarcinoma in individuals with celiac. Using a Swedish nationwide cohort with a median follow-up of 11 years, the authors identified 48,119 individuals with CD (patients) and 239,249 reference individuals.
Key findings:
- Beginning at 1 year after a diagnosis of CD, 29 patients (0.06%) received a diagnosis of small bowel adenocarcinoma vs 45 reference individuals (0.02%).
- HRs were small bowel adenocarcinoma 3.05, carcinoids 0.59, and adenomas 5.73.).
- Overall, there was 1 extra case of small bowel adenocarcinoma in every 2944 patients with CD followed for 10 years.
- There was an inverse association between mucosal healing risk of future small bowel adenocarcinoma (HR, 0.18; 95% CI, 0.02–1.61), although the HR failed to attain statistical significance.
My take (mostly borrowed from authors): There is a tiny increase in risk of “small bowel adenomas and adenocarcinomas in patients with diagnosed CD, but only a very marginal increase in terms of absolute risk. Our results do not imply a need for surveillance but celiac individuals with signs or symptoms of malignancy should merit further investigation for small bowel adenocarcinoma. Mucosal healing was strongly associated with lower risk of small bowel adenocarcinoma, although the association failed to reach statistical significance.’
Related blog posts:
- Celiac Disease: “”80 percent of success is just showing up” | gutsandgrowth
- AGA Practice Guidelines for Celiac Disease | gutsandgrowth
- What is Gluten-Free? | gutsandgrowth
- ESPGHAN Guidelines for Diagnosing Coeliac Disease 2020 | gutsandgrowth
Getting Lost in the Pathophysiology of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
A recent review (JT Chang. NEJM 2020; 383: 2652-2664. Pathophysiology of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases) provides an in-depth description of the pathophysiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Digesting the article is akin to putting together a 1000 piece puzzle due to the complex interactions.
Some of the Key Points:
- Based on genomewide association studies, there are “more than 240 risk variants that affect intracellular pathways recognizing microbial products (eg. NOD2); the autophagy pathway, which facilitates recycling intracellular organelles and removal of intracellular microorganisms (eg. ATG16L1); genes regulating epithelial barrier function (eg. ECM1); and pathways regulating innate and adaptive immunity (eg. IL23R and IL10).”
- In this article, Figure 1 and 2 describe the intestinal mucosal immune system in health and disease. At baseline, this system promotes an antiinflammatory state “by virtue of active down-regulation of immune responses. For example, unlike macrophages in other parts of the body, intestinal macrophages do not produce inflammatory cytokines” after exposure to bacteria.
Other points:
- Dysbiosis is present with IBD; however, studies have been “unable to infer causal relationships.”
- Germ-free mice, when given fecal material from patients with IBD have increased susceptibility to colitis as compared to those who received fecal material from a healthy person.
- Thus, this leads to potential for mitigating intestinal inflammation by modulation of the microbiome.
- However, the authors note that humans are colonized by trillions of viral, fungal, bacterial, and eukaryotic microbes.
- Other components of IBD pathophysiology: reduced mucus layer, increased microbial adherence, dysregulation of tight junctions/increased permeability, dysfunctional Paneth cells, TNF, IL23, IL12, IL6, IL 17A, IL17F, IL22, Interferon-gamma, integrins, JAK inhibitors, T-cells
My take: This article is a useful reference detailing the complexity of IBD pathophysiology and tries to summarize a whole textbook of information into 12 pages.
Related blog posts:
- Patterns and Puzzles with VEO-IBD This is a very good review and the image on this day has one of my favorite patient t-shirts.
- How Very Early Onset-Inflammatory Bowel Disease is Different, Plus One
- Underlyling Genetic Disease in Pediatric IBD
- VEO-IBD -Useful Position Paper
- More IBD Cases Than Ever in Young Canadian Children | gutsandgrowth
- Expanding VEO Variants
- Why the Genetics of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Matter Now
Persistent Symptoms After COVID-19, FAQs, and New Strain
A large study from Wuhan showed that after 6 months following hospitalization, most still had lingering symptoms.
Full text: C Huang et al. Lancet DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32656-8; 6-month consequences of COVID-19 in patients discharged from hospital: a cohort study
Key point: At 6 months after acute infection, COVID-19 survivors (n=1733 enrolled in study) were mainly troubled with fatigue or muscle weakness, sleep difficulties, and anxiety or depression. Patients who were more severely ill during their hospital stay had more severe impaired pulmonary diffusion capacities and abnormal chest imaging manifestations
NY Times analysis (Jan 8, 2021): 6 Months After Leaving the Hospital, Covid Survivors Still Face Lingering Health Issues
- The most common issue was ongoing exhaustion or muscle weakness, experienced by 63 percent of the patients
- About one-quarter of the patients reported difficulty sleeping
- 23 percent said they experienced anxiety or depression
- “Some of the sickest patients were excluded, so perhaps some of the outcomes that were reported would be worse if those patients were included”
NEJM Link: COVID-19 Vaccine: Frequently Asked Questions
NY Times (1/15/21): C.D.C. Warns the New Virus Variant Could Fuel Huge Spikes in Covid Cases “The new variant, called B.1.1.7, was first identified in Britain, where it rapidly became the primary source of infections, accounting for more than 80 percent of new cases diagnosed in London and at least a quarter of cases elsewhere in the country.”
