Archives: 2020-06-10

MSC Therapy for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome; It’s Time to Accelerate Clinical Trials for COVID-19 Patients in Need

A new systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical studies using mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) led by a team at the Mayo Clinic, and including researchers from Emory, Duke, Case-Western, and the University of Miami, shows a trend toward improved outcomes and reduced mortality for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)—a major complication for patients with COVID-19.

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Identification of genetic basis of COVID-19 susceptibility will aid treatment

The clinical presentation of COVID-19 varies from patient to patient and understanding individual genetic susceptibility to the disease is therefore vital to prognosis, prevention, and the development of new treatments. For the first time, Italian scientists have been able to identify the genetic and molecular basis of this susceptibility to infection as well as to

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TEG test can identify undetected blood clots in COVID-19 ICU patients

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine are recommending that all COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU undergo a thromboelastography (TEG) to test for the risk of forming blood clots. This recommendation comes after they found that more than half of the patients tested under these same conditions developed clinically significant blood clots that went undetected using routine

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Black Children More Likely To Suffer Kawasaki-Like Coronavirus Inflammatory Condition

More reports of the unexpected inflammatory condition seen in a small number of children with the coronavirus infection are shedding light on common characteristics of the children. A new study from Paris found that black children appear disproportionately more likely to develop the symptoms than other children. These findings echo the pattern seen in adults where black patients

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Study identifies inhibition of Bruton tyrosine kinase as potential approach to treat severe respiratory distress in patients with COVID-19

Early data from a clinical study suggest that blocking the Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) protein provided clinical benefit to a small group of patients with severe COVID-19. Researchers observed that the off-label use of the cancer drug acalabrutinib, a BTK inhibitor that is approved to treat several blood cancers, was associated with reduced respiratory distress

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Convalescent plasma found safe in initial peer-reviewed study of Houston Methodist Hospital on severe Covid-19

Patients (n = 25) with severe and/or life-threatening COVID-19 disease were enrolled at the Houston Methodist hospitals from March 28 – April 14, 2020. Patients were transfused with convalescent plasma obtained from donors with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and had recovered. The primary study outcome was safety, and the secondary outcome was clinical status at day

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