Patients with pre-existing respiratory diseases in the setting of COVID-19 may have a greater risk of severe complications and even death.
 
  A retrospective, multicenter, cohort study with 5847 COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals. Patients were separated in two groups, with/without previous lung disease. Evaluation of factors associated with survival and secondary composite end-point such as ICU admission and respiratory support, were explored.
 
  1,271 patients (22%) had a previous lung disease, mostly COPD. All-cause mortality occurred in 376 patients with lung disease (29.5%) and in 819 patients without (17.9%) (p<0.001). Kaplan-Meier curves showed that patients with lung diseases had a worse 30-day survival (HR=1.78; 95%C.I. 1.58-2.01; p<0.001) and COPD had almost 40% mortality. Multivariable Cox regression showed that prior lung disease remained a risk factor for mortality (HR, 1.21; 95%C.I. 1.02-1.44; p=0.02). Variables independently associated with all-cause mortality risk in patients with lung diseases were oxygen saturation less than 92% on admission (HR, 4.35; 95% CI 3.08-6.15) and elevated D-dimer (HR, 1.84; 95% CI 1.27-2.67). Age younger than 60 years (HR 0.37; 95% CI 0.21-0.65) was associated with decreased risk of death.
 
  Previous lung disease is a risk factor for mortality in patients with COVID-19. Older age, male gender, home oxygen therapy, and respiratory failure on admission were associated with an increased mortality. Efforts must be done to identify respiratory patients to set measures to improve their clinical outcomes.
 Previous lung disease is a risk factor for mortality in patients with COVID-19. Older age, male gender, home oxygen therapy, and respiratory failure on admission were associated with an increased mortality. Efforts must be done to identify respiratory patients to set measures to improve their clinical outcomes.
  Since apathy increases in prevalence with severity of dementia pathology, we sought to distinguish concomitant neurodegenerative processes from brain differences associated with apathy in persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's Disease (AD). We examined relative structural brain differences between case-control matched cognitively impaired patients with and without apathy.
 
  Cross-sectional case-control study.
 
  Fifty-eight clinical sites in phase 2 of the AD Neuroimaging Initiative across the United States and Canada.
 
  The ≥ 55 years of age with MCI or AD dementia and no major neurological disorders aside from suspected incipient AD dementia. Participants with apathy (n=69) were age-, sex-, apolipoprotein E ε4 allele carrier status-, Mini-Mental State Exam score-, and MCI or AD dementia diagnosis-matched to participants without apathy (n=149).
 
  The 3-tesla T1-weighted MRI scan and neurocognitive assessments. Using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory apathy domain scores, participants were dichotomized into a with-apathy group (score ≥ 1) and a without-apathy group (score = 0).
 
  Cortical thicknesses from 24 a priori regions of interest involved in frontostriatal circuits and frontotemporal association areas.
 
  False-discovery rate adjusted within-group comparisons between participants with apathy and participants without apathy showed thinner right medial orbitofrontal (mOFC; meandifference(MD)±standarderrorofMD(SE)=-0.0879±0.0257mm; standardizedMD(d)=-0.4456) and left rostral anterior cingulate (rACC; MD±SE=-0.0905±0.0325mm; d=-0.3574) cortices and thicker left middle temporal cortices (MTC; MD±SE=0.0688±0.0239mm; d=0.3311) in those with apathy.
 
  Atrophy of the right mOFC and left rACC and sparing of atrophy in the left MTC are associated with apathy in cognitively impaired persons.
 Atrophy of the right mOFC and left rACC and sparing of atrophy in the left MTC are associated with apathy in cognitively impaired persons.
  Recent studies have demonstrated an association between the gut microbiome and cognitive function. However, the associations between the gut microbiome and brain parenchyma damage, and their underlying mechanisms, remain unclear.
 
  We performed a cross-sectional sub-analysis using data from our prospective cohort study to determine the association between the gut microbiome and cerebral small vessel disease (SVD). We assessed patient demographics, risk factors, cognitive function, brain imaging, voxel-based specific regional analysis system for Alzheimer's Disease (VSRAD, indicating brain atrophy), and the gut microbiome as indicated by enterotypes and faecal microbiome metabolites. We then analysed the associations between total SVD scores, cognitive function, and the gut microbiome.
 
  We analysed data from 87 patients without dementia or a history of stroke, 64 of whom exhibited mild cognitive impairment. Higher total SVD scores were associated with cognitive decline and behavioural and psychological symptoms. Compared with all other patients, patients with enterotype I (Bacteroides >30%) were more likely to have cognitive decline (median scores Mini-Mental State Examination, 25 vs. 27, P = 0.047; Clinical Dementia Rating-Sum of Boxes, 1.5 vs. 0.5, P = 0.002) and present with cerebral SVD and high VSRAD scores (1.01 vs. 0.57, P = 0.012). Furthermore, faecal metabolites were significantly higher in patients with higher total SVD scores compared with those with lower scores. Multivariable logistic regression analyses indicated that certain gut microbiomes may double the risk of white matter hyperintensity.
 
  The gut microbiome is associated with cerebral SVD.
 The gut microbiome is associated with cerebral SVD.
  The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has deeply modified the complex logistical process underlying allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant practices.
 
  In light of these changes, the authors compared data relative to allogeneic transplants carried out from 2018 at their center before (n=167) and during the pandemic (n=45).
 
  The authors examined patient characteristics, donor and graft types, cell doses and main transplant outcomes.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/zasocitinib.html  Moreover, the authors evaluated the rise of costs attributable to additional COVID-19-related procedures as well as the risk of adverse events these procedures conveyed to grafts or recipients.
 
  Overall, the number of transplants did not decrease during the pandemic, whereas patients at high relapse risk were prioritized. Transplants were mainly from matched unrelated donors, with a significant decrease in haploidentical related donors. Moreover, the use of bone marrow as a graft for haploidentical transplant was almost abandoned. Cryopreservation was introduced for all related and unrelated apheresis products, with a median storage time of 20 days.