scholarly journals Surgical Site Infections in a Tertiary Referral Obstetric and Gynecologic Clinic Center in Istanbul and Review of the Literature

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Hale Goksever Celik ◽  
Engin Celik ◽  
Selin Dikmen ◽  
Merve Konal ◽  
Ali Gedikbasi

<p><strong>Objective:</strong> The present study aimed to define characteristics of the patients who were readmitted with the diagnosis of surgical site infections after gynecologic or obstetric procedures and management of these patients. We also reviewed the literature in this context.</p><p><strong>Study design:</strong> We examined 120 patients with surgical site infections that had been hospitalized and managed medically and/or surgically between April 2014 and April 2015. Characteristics of the patients were recorded and analyzed.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> The mean age of the patients was 33.4±11.8 years. The patients were readmitted for surgical site infections on the mean of 9.6±5.4 days after the first operation. The most frequent procedures resulted with SSI were cesarean delivery, abdominal hysterectomy and vaginal birth. When patients were compared according to these procedures, there were statistically significant differences regarding age, gravida, parity, preoperative white blood cell count, postoperative white blood cell count and antibiotics usage.</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> Combining evidence-based surgical site infections prevention practices and clinician and patient cooperation will result in reduction in surgical site infections incidence following obstetric and gynecologic procedures. Because of economic burden and threat to the physical and psychological health of the patients, these modifiable risks should be recognized and surgical site infections should be minimized. After surgical site infections occurred, diagnosis and proper management with antibiotics and wound care with debridement and secondary suturing is important.</p>

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Μαρία Καπαρού

Introduction: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) accounts for nearly 1/3 of all pediatric malignancies and 75% of all childhood leukemias. The annual incidence of ALL has been estimated to 30 cases per million, with a peak incidence in children aged two to five years. Progress in the diagnosis with novel molecular techniques, risk classification, and treatment strategy in ALL has led to cure rates that now exceed 80%. However, a significant proportion (20%) of patients fails to respond to therapy, and treatment failure can occur even in patients with favorable prognostic features. It has been suggested that leukemia is characterized by impaired balance between proliferation of blood cells and their capacity to undergo apoptosis. The aim of this study was to assess the expression of the apoptosis-related genes bcl-2 and bax in childhood ALL, both at the time of diagnosis and at remission achieved post induction treatment. In addition, we measured the levels of the apoptotic receptors Fas, FasLigand, and their co-expression on patients’ leukemic cells. To explore the prognostic significance of apoptosis-related genes in childhood ALL, we examined associations between expression levels and established clinical and cytogenetic disease parameters.Materials-Methods: The study included 26 children (eighteen boys, eight girls) with newly diagnosed ALL (twenty-three B-ALL, three T-ALL). The mean age was 7.1 ± 1.2 years, the mean white blood cell count was 27.5 ± 10.6 K/μL and the mean hemoglobin was 9.1 ± 0.6 g/dL. All patients were diagnosed, treated and followed at the Department of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, University Hospital of Heraklion - Crete, and they received chemotherapy according to the ALL BFM 2000 protocol. There were 34 age-matched children who served as controls (20 children with benign blood diseases -12 with Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, 8 with Autoimmune Neutropenias- and 14 children with solid tumors without bone marrow infiltration). Bone marrow specimens were obtained from all children, under informed consent signed by the parents/guardians. Cytogenetic abnormalities were examined with conventional karyotype and FISH. Disease remission following induction therapy was assessed by bone marrow microscopic evaluation and flow cytometry. Measurement of bcl-2 and bax mRNA was performed by quantitative real-time PCR, and membrane expression of Fas and Fas-L was assessed by flow cytometry in bone marrow mononuclear cells, both at diagnosis and at remission following induction chemotherapy.Results: At diagnosis, increased level of the apoptotic bax/bcl-2 ratio was observed in children older than 10 years and with higher white blood cell count. DNA index <1,16 was associated with increased bax/bcl-2 both at diagnosis and at remission, and the del(9p) abnormality with increased bax/bcl-2 at remission. Expression of the apoptotic receptor Fas was significantly higher at remission compared to diagnosis, which might reflect enhanced sensitivity of the leukemic clone to apoptosis and response to treatment. Conclusions: In conclusion, our study highlights the association between the apoptotic bax/bcl-2 ratio with high-risk features in children with ALL, such as older age, white blood cell count, the del(9p) abnormality and DNA index <1.16. The increase in Fas expression once remission has been achieved after induction treatment, could represent a prognostic factor of favorable response to chemotherapy and deserves further investigation. Delineation of the role of apoptosis in pathogenesis and prognosis of pediatric ALL should enable the design of novel targeted therapies.


2005 ◽  
Vol 114 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yael Oestreicher-Kedem ◽  
Aron Popovtzer ◽  
Eyal Raveh ◽  
Nora Buller ◽  
Liora Kornreich ◽  
...  

The aim of the present study was to review our recent experience in the diagnosis and treatment of acute mastoiditis and its complications in a single tertiary-care, university-affiliated pediatric center. Ninety-eight children with 101 episodes of acute mastoiditis were included in the study. The mean interval from onset of illness to mastoiditis was 4.5 days. Ear cultures most often grew Streptococcus pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (23.7% each). Complications occurred in 15.8% of episodes. The only factor differentiating children with and without complications was white blood cell count. These findings indicate that acute mastoiditis not only is a complication of prolonged infection of the middle ear, but may also present as an acute infection of the mastoid bone that can progress within 48 hours. The complication rate remains high, and antibiotic treatment at the onset of symptoms does not prevent complications. A high white blood cell count on admission may serve as a predictive factor of complicated cases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 195
Author(s):  
Yitang Sun ◽  
Jingqi Zhou ◽  
Kaixiong Ye

Increasing evidence shows that white blood cells are associated with the risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but the direction and causality of this association are not clear. To evaluate the causal associations between various white blood cell traits and the COVID-19 susceptibility and severity, we conducted two-sample bidirectional Mendelian Randomization (MR) analyses with summary statistics from the largest and most recent genome-wide association studies. Our MR results indicated causal protective effects of higher basophil count, basophil percentage of white blood cells, and myeloid white blood cell count on severe COVID-19, with odds ratios (OR) per standard deviation increment of 0.75 (95% CI: 0.60–0.95), 0.70 (95% CI: 0.54–0.92), and 0.85 (95% CI: 0.73–0.98), respectively. Neither COVID-19 severity nor susceptibility was associated with white blood cell traits in our reverse MR results. Genetically predicted high basophil count, basophil percentage of white blood cells, and myeloid white blood cell count are associated with a lower risk of developing severe COVID-19. Individuals with a lower genetic capacity for basophils are likely at risk, while enhancing the production of basophils may be an effective therapeutic strategy.


2021 ◽  
pp. 247553032110007
Author(s):  
Eric Munger ◽  
Amit K. Dey ◽  
Justin Rodante ◽  
Martin P. Playford ◽  
Alexander V. Sorokin ◽  
...  

Background: Psoriasis is associated with accelerated non-calcified coronary plaque burden (NCB) by coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). Machine learning (ML) algorithms have been shown to effectively identify cardiometabolic variables with NCB in cross-sectional analysis. Objective: To use ML methods to characterize important predictors of change in NCB by CCTA in psoriasis over 1-year of observation. Methods: The analysis included 182 consecutive patients with 80 available variables from the Psoriasis Atherosclerosis Cardiometabolic Initiative, a prospective, observational cohort study at baseline and 1-year using the random forest regression algorithm. NCB was assessed at baseline and 1-year from CCTA. Results: Using ML, we identified variables of high importance in the context of predicting changes in NCB. For the cohort that worsened NCB (n = 102), top baseline variables were cholesterol (total and HDL), white blood cell count, psoriasis area severity index score, and diastolic blood pressure. Top predictors of 1-year change were change in visceral adiposity, white blood cell count, total cholesterol, c-reactive protein, and absolute lymphocyte count. For the cohort that improved NCB (n = 80), the top baseline variables were HDL cholesterol related including apolipoprotein A1, basophil count, and psoriasis area severity index score, and top predictors of 1-year change were change in apoA, apoB, and systolic blood pressure. Conclusion: ML methods ranked predictors of progression and regression of NCB in psoriasis over 1 year providing strong evidence to focus on treating LDL, blood pressure, and obesity; as well as the importance of controlling cutaneous disease in psoriasis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Xiang ◽  
Ming Cheng

Abstract Background Enoxaparin is an anticoagulant that falls in the class of medications called low molecular weight heparins (LMWHs), and is used to prevent or treat patients with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism. Enoxaparin is the most widely used LMWH for DVT prophylaxis following knee or hip replacement surgery. Common side effects of enoxaparin include bleeding, petechiae at the injection site, and thrombocytopenia. However, reactive thrombocytosis is a rarely reported adverse reaction. We managed a patient who developed enoxaparin-associated thrombocytosis, which was completely resolved after treatment cessation. Case presentation A 78-year-old female was hospitalized for post-hip replacement rehabilitation. Low molecular weight heparin 40 mg/day was administered subcutaneously to prevent deep venous thrombosis (DVT). At admission, her platelet count was normal (228 × 109/L) and her white blood cell count was slightly elevated (12.91 × 109/L). Seven days after admission, the patient developed thrombocytosis, which peaked on the 14th day (836 × 109/L), while her white blood cell count had returned to normal (8.86 × 109/L). Her therapeutic regimen was reviewed, and enoxaparin was identified as a potentially reversible cause of reactive thrombocytosis. Switching from enoxaparin to rivaroxaban lead to a gradual decrease in the patient’s platelet count, which eventually returned to normal levels 16 days after enoxaparin was discontinued. No complications secondary to thrombocytosis was observed, and no conclusion was reached on the use of small doses of aspirin for antithrombotic therapy under these circumstances. Conclusion Enoxaparin-induced reactive thrombocytosis should be suspected in patients with thrombocytosis following enoxaparin administration as an anticoagulant to prevent certain complications.


Author(s):  
Dustin E Bosch ◽  
Patrick C Mathias ◽  
Niklas Krumm ◽  
Andrew Bryan ◽  
Ferric C Fang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background An elevated white blood cell count (&gt;15 thousand/μL) is an established prognostic marker in patients with Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). Small observational studies have suggested that a markedly elevated WBC should prompt consideration of CDI. However, there is limited evidence correlating WBC elevation with the results of C. difficile nucleic acid testing (NAAT). Methods Retrospective review of laboratory testing, outcomes, and treatment of 16,568 consecutive patients presenting to 4 hospitals over four years with NAAT and WBC testing on the same day. Results No significant relationship between C. difficile NAAT results and concurrent WBC in the inpatient setting was observed. Although an elevated WBC did predict NAAT results in the outpatient and emergency department populations (p&lt;0.001), accuracy was poor, with receiver-operator areas under the curve of 0.59 and 0.56. An elevated WBC (&gt;15 thousand/μL) in CDI was associated with a longer median hospital length of stay (15.5 vs. 11.0 days, p&lt;0.01), consistent with leukocytosis as a prognostic marker in CDI. NAAT-positive inpatients with elevated WBC were more likely to be treated with metronidazole and/or vancomycin (relative ratio 1.2, 95% confidence interval 1.1–1.3) and die in the hospital (relative ratio 2.9, 95% CI 2.0–4.3). Conclusions Although WBC is an important prognostic indicator in patients with CDI, an isolated WBC elevation has low sensitivity and specificity as a predictor of fecal C. difficile NAAT positivity in the inpatient setting. A high or rising WBC in isolation is not a sufficient indication for CDI testing.


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