Background. The threat of contagious infectious diseases is constantly evolving as demographic explosion, travel globalization, and changes in human lifestyle increase the risk of spreading pathogens, leading to accelerated changes in disease landscape. Of particular interest is the aftermath of superimposing viral epidemics (especially SARS-CoV-2) over long-standing diseases, such as tuberculosis (TB), which remains a significant disease for public health worldwide and especially in emerging economies.Methods and Results. The PubMed electronic database was systematically searched for relevant articles linking TB, influenza, and SARS-CoV viruses and subsequently assessed eligibility according to inclusion criteria. Using a data mining approach, we also queried the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset (CORD-19). We aimed to answer the following questions: What can be learned from other coronavirus outbreaks (focusing on TB patients)? Is coinfection (TB and SARS-CoV-2) more severe? Is there a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2? How does the TB vaccine affect COVID-19? How does one diagnosis affect the other?Discussions. Few essential elements about TB and SARS-CoV coinfections were discussed. First, lessons from past outbreaks (other coronaviruses) and influenza pandemic/seasonal outbreaks have taught the importance of infection control to avoid the severe impact on TB patients. Second, although challenging due to data scarcity, investigating the pathological pathways linking TB and SARS-CoV-2 leads to the idea that their coexistence might yield a more severe clinical evolution. Finally, we addressed the issues of vaccination and diagnostic reliability in the context of coinfection.Conclusions. Because viral respiratory infections and TB impede the host’s immune responses, it can be assumed that their lethal synergism may contribute to more severe clinical evolution. Despite the rapidly growing number of cases, the data needed to predict the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with latent TB and TB sequelae still lies ahead. The trial is registered withNCT04327206,NCT01829490, andNCT04121494.

Infective endocarditis (IE) represents one of the most challenging clinical entities, requiring a multidisciplinary approach. The increasing number of surgical and transcatheter heart valves replacements performed annually lead to a higher incidence of prosthetic valve endocarditis. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) brought a new alternative for the treatment of aortic stenosis and a new subgroup of IE with its features. We aimed to compare the incidence of IE in TAVI and surgical valve replacement (SAVR) to identify risk factors for TAVI-IE, evaluate the possible impact on mortality, and clarify the best treatment strategies. A digital scan in PubMed and SCOPUS databases was performed. 68 publications were selected to perform a meta-analysis and systematic review on epidemiology, risk factors, and mortality predictors in TAVI-IE. No significant difference in IE rate was noted between patients with TAVI and those with SAVR for in-hospital, early, mid-term and late IE. Male gender, intubation, new pacemaker implantation IE and CKD were correlated with TAVI-IE. Surgical treatment was performed in 22.3% of cases. Overall mortality for the pooled cohort was 38.3%. In a multivariate logistic regression model, surgical treatment and self-expandable device were linked to lower mortality in TAVI-IE. Even if the invasive procedure can trigger bacteremia, exposing the TAVI valve to future infection, no significant difference in IE rate was noted in our analysis between patients with TAVI and those with SAVR for in-hospital, early, mid-term and late IE. Surgical treatment of TAVI-IE can be a viable option in patients with a prohibitive risk score.

Since epidemiological arguments favouring self-isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic are widely recommended, the consequences of social isolation/loneliness of older people considered to be at higher risk for severe illness are neglected. We identified and described medical, social,...

Background: The subendocardial viability ratio (SEVR), also known as the Buckberg index, is a parameter of arterial stiffness with indirect prognostic value in assessing long-term cardiovascular risk. Materials and Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study on 70 patients with uncomplicated hypertension admitted to a county medical reference hospital. We analyzed demographics, laboratory data, arterial stiffness parameters and cardiovascular risk scores (SCORE and Framingham risk scores) and aimed to identify paraclinical parameters associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Results: Of the arterial stiffness parameters, SEVR correlates statistically significantly with age, central and peripheral systolic blood pressure, as well as with heart rate. SEVR seems to have prognostic value among hypertensive patients by increasing the risk of major cardiovascular events assessed by SCORE and Framingham risk scores. SEVR correlates statistically significantly with serum fibrinogen (p = 0.02) and hemoglobin (p = 0.046). Between pulse wave velocity and lipid parameters (p = 0.021 for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and p = 0.030 for triglycerides) a statistically significant relationship was found for the study group. The augmentation index of the aorta also correlated with serum LDL-cholesterol (p = 0.032) and the hemoglobin levels (p = 0.040) of hypertensive patients. Conclusions: Age, abdominal circumference and Framingham score are independent predictors for SEVR in our study group, further highlighting the need for early therapeutic measures to control risk factors in this category of patients.