scholarly journals Clinical and Laboratory Prognosticators of Atrophic Papulosis (Degos Disease): A Systematic Review

Author(s):  
Justin D. Lu ◽  
Muskaan Sachdeva ◽  
Orli M. Silverberg ◽  
Lee Shapiro ◽  
David Croitoru ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Degos disease is a rare vascular disorder with a cutaneous-limited form, benign atrophic papulosis (BAP), and a systemic variant, malignant atrophic papulosis (MAP). Despite the poor prognosis of MAP, no study has established features associated with systemic disease.Objectives: The aims of this systematic review were to: (1) summarize clinical features and treatments implemented for patients with MAP and BAP (2) identify clinical and laboratory factors associated with the development of MAP, compared to BAP.Methods: We systematically searched MEDLINE and Embase from inception to April 2020. Demographic and clinical features of Degos patients were presented descriptively; multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify associations with MAP.Results: We identified 99 case studies, comprising 105 patients. MAP (64%) had a 2.15 year median survival time from cutaneous onset, most often with gastrointestinal or central nervous system involvement. We found that elevations in either of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) or C-reactive protein (CRP) were associated with systemic involvement (OR 2.27, p=0.023). Degos secondary to an autoimmune connective tissue disease was found to be inversely associated with MAP (OR 0.08, p=0.048).Conclusions: Elevated ESR or CRP is associated with MAP and may be a predictor of systemic involvement for patients with Degos disease. In addition, secondary Degos disease is associated with a favourable prognosis. Clinicians should be aware of the differences between primary and secondary Degos and the utility of ESR or CRP in identifying disease evolution to systemic involvement. The utility of ESR and CRP to identify systemic involvement should be further explored.

Author(s):  
Seyed Reza Mirhafez ◽  
Mitra Hariri

Abstract. L-arginine is an important factor in several physiological and biochemical processes. Recently, scientists studied L-arginine effect on inflammatory mediators such as C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). We conducted a systematic review on randomized controlled trials assessing L-arginine effect on inflammatory mediators. We searched data bases including Google scholar, ISI web of science, SCOPUS, and PubMed/Medline up to April 2019. Randomized clinical trials assessing the effect of L-arginine on inflammatory mediators in human adults were included. Our search retrieved eleven articles with 387 participants. Five articles were on patients with cancer and 6 articles were on adults without cancer. L-arginine was applied in enteral form in 5 articles and in oral form in 6 articles. Eight articles were on both genders, two articles were on women, and one article was on men. L-arginine could not reduce inflammatory mediators among patients with and without cancer except one article which indicated that taking L-arginine for 6 months decreased IL-6 among cardiopathic nondiabetic patients. Our results indicated that L-arginine might not be able to reduce selected inflammatory mediators, but for making a firm decision more studies are needed to be conducted with longer intervention duration, separately on male and female and with different doses of L-arginine.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-jie Gao ◽  
Lei Ye ◽  
Jia-shuo Zhang ◽  
Yang-xue Yin ◽  
Min Liu ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunny Singhal ◽  
Pramod Kumar ◽  
Sumitabh Singh ◽  
Srishti Saha ◽  
Aparajit Ballav Dey

Abstract Background Few studies have focused on exploring the clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 in older patients. We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to have a better understanding of the clinical characteristics of older COVID-19 patients. Methods A systematic search of PubMed and Scopus was performed from December 2019 to May 3rd, 2020. Observational studies including older adults (age ≥ 60 years) with COVID-19 infection and reporting clinical characteristics or outcome were included. Primary outcome was assessing weighted pooled prevalence (WPP) of severity and outcomes. Secondary outcomes were clinical features including comorbidities and need of respiratory support. Result Forty-six studies with 13,624 older patients were included. Severe infection was seen in 51% (95% CI– 36-65%, I2–95%) patients while 22% (95% CI– 16-28%, I2–88%) were critically ill. Overall, 11% (95% CI– 5-21%, I2–98%) patients died. The common comorbidities were hypertension (48, 95% CI– 36-60% I2–92%), diabetes mellitus (22, 95% CI– 13-32%, I2–86%) and cardiovascular disease (19, 95% CI – 11-28%, I2–85%). Common symptoms were fever (83, 95% CI– 66-97%, I2–91%), cough (60, 95% CI– 50-70%, I2–71%) and dyspnoea (42, 95% CI– 19-67%, I2–94%). Overall, 84% (95% CI– 60-100%, I2–81%) required oxygen support and 21% (95% CI– 0-49%, I2–91%) required mechanical ventilation. Majority of studies had medium to high risk of bias and overall quality of evidence was low for all outcomes. Conclusion Approximately half of older patients with COVID-19 have severe infection, one in five are critically ill and one in ten die. More high-quality evidence is needed to study outcomes in this vulnerable patient population and factors affecting these outcomes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 402-409
Author(s):  
Ashraf Omer Elamin Ahmed ◽  
Mona Mohammad Ibraheem Babikir ◽  
Amir Elssoni Mahjoup Khojali ◽  
Suresh Nalaka Menik Arachchige ◽  
Abdirahman Mohamud Abdirahman ◽  
...  

<i>Mycobacteria pneumoniae</i> (MP) commonly causes upper and lower respiratory tract infections. The clinical manifestation is classified as pulmonary and extrapulmonary. These manifestations vary according to the involved system. MP may affect one system or more at a time. Commonly prodromal respiratory symptoms precede systemic involvement. Central nervous system involvement in uncommon. This report is presenting a rare case of central nervous system vasculitis secondary to MP, highlighting the diagnosis and management with a succinct literature review.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Simone Vidale

<b><i>Background and Purpose:</i></b> Coronavirus disease 2019 (CO­VID-19) infection is an ongoing pandemic and worldwide health emergency that has caused important changes in healthcare systems. Previous studies reported an increased risk of thromboembolic events, including stroke. This systematic review aims to describe the clinical features and etiological characteristics of ischemic stroke patients with CO­VID-19 infection. <b><i>Method:</i></b> A literature search was performed in principal databases for studies and case reports containing data concerning risk factors, clinical features, and etiological characteristics of patients infected with COVID-19 and suffering from stroke. Descriptive and analytical statistics were applied. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Overall, 14 articles were included for a total of 93 patients. Median age was 65 (IQR: 55–75) years with prevalence in males. Stroke occurred after a median of 6 days from COVID-19 infection diagnosis. Median National of Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score was 19. Cryptogenic (Cry) strokes were more frequent (51.8%), followed by cardioembolic etiology, and they occurred a long time after COVID-19 diagnosis compared with large-artery atherosclerosis strokes (<i>p</i><sub>trend</sub>: 0.03). The clinical severity of stroke was significantly associated with the severity grade of COVID-19 infection (<i>p</i><sub>trend</sub>: 0.03). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Ischemic strokes in COVID-19-infected patients were clinically severe, affecting younger patients mainly with Cry and cardioembolic etiologies. Further multicenter prospective registries are needed to better describe the causal association and the effect of COVID-19 infection on stroke.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 666.1-666
Author(s):  
A. Hočevar ◽  
J. Ostrovrsnik ◽  
K. Perdan-Pirkmajer ◽  
M. Tomsic ◽  
Z. Rotar

Background:IgA vasculitis (IgAV) could be limited to skin or evolve into a systemic disease, affecting characteristically joints, gastrointestinal tract and/or kidneys.Objectives:We aimed to look for differences between adult IgAV patients with disease limited to skin compared to systemic IgAV.Methods:Medical records of histologically proven adult IgAV cases, diagnosed between January 2010 and December 2020 at our secondary/tertiary rheumatology centre were analyzed.Results:During the 132-month observation period we identified 328 new IgAV cases (59.5% males, median (IQR) age 64.3 (45.1; 76.1) years). Ninety-four (40.2%) patients had skin limited disease, and the rest systemic IgAV.Clinical differences between skin limited and systemic adult IgAV are presented in table 1. Adults with IgAV limited to skin were significantly older, had less commonly skin lesions above the waistline and a lower level of C reactive protein compared to patients with a systemic disease. There were no differences in the frequency of skin necroses between the compared IgAV subgroups. The frequency of potential vasculitis triggers (prior infections, new medications, malignancy) was similar between the compared subgroups.Table 1.Clinical characteristics of IgA vasculitis patients with skin limited and systemic diseaseClinical characteristicsSkin limited IgAV (94)Systemic IgAV (234)P valueMale gender (%)54.361.50.263Age (years)*68.0 (55.0-80.5)61.5 (41.7-75.8)0.007Current smoker (%)13.821.80.123Antecedent infection (%)28.733.80.434New medication23.423.51.0History of cancer12.810.70.569Symptom duration (days)*7 (5-21)8 (5-14)0.756Purpura above waistline36.255.60.002Skin necroses (%)52.145.70.329ESR /mm/h) *32 (18-52)34 (17-53)0.873CRP (g/l) *13.5 (1-32)30 (11-68)<0.001Elevated serum IgA (%)50.649.10.892Legend: * median and IQR;Follow up data were available for 250 (76.2%) patients. During the follow up of median (IQR) 12.5 (6.8 – 22.4) months 35 patients relapsed (13/70 (18.6%) with skin limited IgAV and 22/180 (12.2%) with systemic IgAV, p= 0.224).Conclusion:Skin limited IgAV was associated with older age and less extensive skin puprura in adults. However, relapses of purpura were as common as in systemic IgAV.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


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