The 2023 Belgian clinical guidance on anticoagulation management in hospitalized and ambulatory COVID-19 patients

COVID-19 is associated with an increased risk for thrombotic complications. The trials investigating the optimal thromboprophylactic dose are performed in challenging times and seemingly produce conflicting evidence. The burdensome circumstances, divergent endpoints, and different analytical approaches hamper comparison and extrapolation of available evidence. Most importantly, clinicians should provide thromboprophylaxis in hospitalized COVID-19 patients while (re)assessing bleeding and thrombotic risk frequently. The COVID-19 Thromboprophylaxis Working Group of the BSTH updated its guidance document. It aims to summarize the available evidence critically and to guide clinicians in providing the best possible thromboprophylaxis.

Belgian clinical guidance on anticoagulation management in hospitalised and ambulatory patients with COVID-19

OBJECTIVES

COVID-19 predisposes patients to thrombotic disease. The aim of this guidance document is to provide Belgian health-care workers with recommendations on anticoagulation management in COVID-19 positive patients.

METHODS

These recommendations were based on current knowledge and a limited level of evidence.

RESULTS

We formulated recommendations for the prophylaxis and treatment of COVID-related venous thromboembolism in ambulatory and hospitalised patients, as well as recommendations for the use of antithrombotic drugs in patients with prior indication for anticoagulation who develop COVID-19.

CONCLUSIONS

These recommendations represent an easy-to-use practical guidance that can be implemented in every Belgian hospital and be used by primary care physicians and gynaecologists. Of note, they are likely to evolve with increased knowledge of the disease and availability of data from ongoing clinical trials.

[Thinking differently about health care after COVID-19]

The health crisis linked to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has forced society and hospitals in particular to adapt and reform. Teamwork between hospitals, even beyond the networks, helped them to deal with the crisis. The medical and nursing staff had to learn to work differently and differentiate urgent from non-urgent care. But the patient also had to change his/her behaviour. Access to hospitals has been divided between a separate COVID and non-COVID route in order to avoid contamination. Telemedicine has become a daily way of communicating between doctors and patients. Telephone consultations have been set up with reimbursement by social security. However, these actions and innovations should not end with the crisis but, on the contrary, be a lever to rethink the role of hospitals, and our health care system more generally.

Perception of Belgian nurses about evidence-based clinical practice implementation: a focus group study

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

Despite recommendations to integrate evidence-based practice into nursing care, evidence-based nursing (EBN) implementation is generally lacking. Strategies for developing an EBN implementation plan require an evaluation of nurses' needs and expectations. The aim of this study was to evaluate how Belgian nurses perceive EBN.

METHODS

Descriptive qualitative data were obtained via focus groups. Fifty-six nurses took part in the study and were assigned to one of seven focus groups based on their work setting and the local language.

RESULTS

The main results revealed little familiarity with the EBN concept. There were a number of reported barriers to integrating EBN into practice: lack of time; lack of skills needed to find, process, and apply information; lack of support from management; and lack of recognition of the nursing profession.

CONCLUSION

Participants identified four strategies for facilitating EBN development: specific staff dedicated to supporting EBN implementation; an interactive web-based platform to help nurses find, select, and interpret relevant scientific sources; an electronic tool to help nurses in clinical decision-making based on patients' clinical data; and a change in clinical culture to include EBN in decision-making processes.

[Retroperitoneal mass in children : clinical cases of Wilms tumor and neuroblastoma]

Detection of a retroperitoneal mass in children needs a fast and accurate exploration. We present the case-reports of 2 children under the age of 5 years admitted to the University Hospital of Liège, one with a Wilms tumor and one with a neuroblastoma.

[Exploring . . . a retroperitoneal mass in children]

Detection of a retroperitoneal mass in children needs a fast and accurate exploration. Wilms tumor and neuroblastoma, the most frequent, will be presented more in detail including their clinical and biological characteristics, their diagnostic tests and their primary therapeutic treatments.

[Practical pediatric aspects of palivizumab]

Palivizumab (Synagis) is a monoclonal antibody directed against the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), for reducing mortality and morbidity in infants at risk of cardio-respiratory impairement due to bronchiolitis: 1. prematurity less than 28 weeks and less than 1 year of age; 2. between 28 and 32 weeks plus mechanical ventilation and less than 6 months of age; 3. chronic lung deficiency and less than 2 years of age; 4. congenital cardiopathy with either desaturation, pulmonary hypertension or cardiac failure. Another group of infants is those having a severe imnnunodeficiency. These infants are listed in a hospital recognized to have a competence in neonatal intensive care or a cardio-thoracic care program. The specialist in those disciplines prescribe the palivizumab which is delivered by the pharmacy of the competent hospital. The infant receives it by IM route at a dose of 15 mg/kg, monthly between October or November and February or March. Reduction of mortality and morbidity have been observed in the infants at risk. However, this costly pharmacological preventive approach needs to come after other simple preventive measures such as avoiding contact with potential carriers of nasal viruses and passive smoking, for bronchiolitis is not solely due to RSV.

Medullary thyroid carcinoma in a child with a new RET mutation and a RET polymorphism

We report a 12 year old boy with an isolated medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). A mutation analysis of the RET-proto-oncogene in this boy showed an in frame insertion-deletion mutation (insTTCTdelG) at codon 666 of the RET proto-oncogene. This RET mutation has not been reported previously. The boy's mother and his 82-year-old maternal grandfather showed the same mutation. None of the two ever showed symptoms of MTC. The mother underwent a preventive total thyroidectomy and pathological examination showed C-cell hyperplasia and early MTC. Further genetic analysis showed that the boy inherited a well-known coding polymorphism in exon 11 (G691S) from his father. Therefore the boy is a compound heterozygote for the insertion-deletion mutation at codon 666 and the G691S polymorphism in the RET gene. We hypothesize that the insTTCTdelG mutation at codon 666 is associated with low penetrance for MTC and that the young age of MTC in the reported child results most likely from the additive effects of both mutations (insTTCTdelG and G691S).

Predictive value of classical and automated sperm analysis for in-vitro fertilization

The fertilization rates observed in 122 attempts at in-vitro fertilization were examined in relation to sperm characteristics assessed by visual and automated screening. Using linear regression analysis, a significant correlation was found between the fertilization rate and (i) evaluations in fresh semen sperm concentration, percentages of sperm motility, vitality and normal morphology and velocity, (ii) measurements in swim-up preparations of percentages of sperm motility, vitality and morphology, velocity and amplitude of lateral head displacement. No significant correlation was found between the fertilization rate and any of the parameters studied in 24-h-old swim-up suspensions. Analysis by multiple variable stepwise linear regression showed an optimal correlation (R6 = 0.62) between the observed fertilization rate and theoretical calculation obtained from the following predictive function: fertilization rate = -0.3 + (0.008 x swim-up motility) + (0.004 x normal sperm morphology in fresh semen). Introduction of kinematic characteristics studied by automated screening improved the multiple correlation between the calculated and observed fertilization rate in cases of normal or mildly defective semen. Because of the limited availability of motile spermatozoa, automated analysis could not supersede classical sperm analysis in cases of more severe sperm defects.