Is nasopharyngeal shedding of severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus associated with genetic polymorphisms?
The SARS-CoV load is a determinant of clinical outcomes of SARS, and it is associated with polymorphisms of genes involved in innate immunity, which might be regulated in an age- and sex-dependent manner. The findings of the present study provided leads to genes involved in the host response to SARS-CoV infection; if substantiated with functional studies, these findings may be applicable to other newly emerged respiratory viruses (e.g., the influenza pandemic strain).
In our population, nearly one-third of the patients with severe AVAIS had a significant subclavian or brachial artery stenosis. The implications of this finding suggest the importance of complete preoperative imaging. The treatment of the inflow stenosis by itself may not be curative, but the correction may serve as an adjunct and contribute to the success of other therapeutic procedures.