scholarly journals A Dynamic Follow-Up of Pneumonia Caused by Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) on CT Scan

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Zhao ◽  
Bo Chen ◽  
Ya’nan Huang ◽  
Minxia Yang ◽  
Jianfeng Yang ◽  
...  

: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) broke out in Wuhan, China. It is a highly contagious respiratory disease, the basic reproductive number (RO value) for COVID-19 has been reported as 2.68 with an epidemic doubling time of 6.4 days. In this case report, a 50-year-old man presented with a history of fever and chills. Chest radiographs failed to find any abnormality, and computed tomography (CT) showed ground glass shadow of the upper lobe of the left lung. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of the patient’s pharyngeal swab was positive for COVID-19 nucleic acid. The course of the disease developed from mild to severe, then improved and recovered. The patient underwent antiviral drugs, low dose of glucocorticoids, symptomatic treatment, and immunoglobulin for human intravenous injection. We report this long time follow-up case of COVID-19.

Author(s):  
Anja Strobl ◽  
Nikola Pantchev ◽  
Lukas Martin ◽  
Abigail Guija-De-Arespacochaga ◽  
Barbara Hinney ◽  
...  

Abstract A four-year-old intact male Boxer, that had a history of travelling to Serbia, was referred for lethargy and anaemia. Shortly before the dog was referred, it was diagnosed twice with an infection with Babesia canis and was treated with imidocarb both times. A blood smear evaluation was indicative of the presence of intraerythrocytic piroplasms. After receiving inconclusive results regarding the type of piroplasm, the dog was diagnosed with simultaneous infections with B. canis and Babesia gibsoni via real-time polymerase chain reaction (rt-PCR) testing. The dog was treated with imidocarb, atovaquone and azithromycin, and in a follow-up examination, the PCR results were negative for B. canis and B. gibsoni. Several weeks later, the dog was presented again, and a PCR was positive for B. gibsoni. After atovaquone and azithromycin failed to eliminate the parasites, a therapy attempt using metronidazole, clindamycin and doxycycline was initiated. Six months after diagnosis, the treatment appeared successful in eliminating B. gibsoni. This case report describes the clinical findings of the co-infection and the initiated diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8499
Author(s):  
Monika Blišťanová ◽  
Michaela Tirpáková ◽  
Ľubomíra Brůnová

The year 2020 was very challenging for the whole world, given the outbreak of the ongoing coronavirus-related pandemic, and was marked in particular by overcoming new hitherto unknown obstacles. For air transport, in particular, airlines stopped flying altogether and were forced to ground hundreds of planes worldwide involuntarily. Airports had to close their terminals for a long time, wholly suspend operations, and its resumption required significant organizational changes. This article summarizes the measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic adopted by airports to minimize the risk of spreading the disease. The article focuses on countermeasures and their implementation at selected airports in a specific time frame and airports’ behavior during a pandemic which varies depending on country and time of the year. The results demonstrated that steps being taken at airports include the use of face coverings or masks, social distance, enhanced cleaning and disinfection, or temperature checks and/or symptoms (fever, loss of smell, chills, cough, shortness of breath), RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) screening and data collection with health declaration. These measures have now become an essential standard for the operation of airports and can, therefore, be used to assess the level of airport safety achieved. In the final phase, the article evaluates the level of achieved airport safety based on the proposed scoring method.


Author(s):  
Claudio Spinelli ◽  
Alessia Bertocchini ◽  
Gianmartin Cito ◽  
Marco Ghionzoli ◽  
Silvia Strambi

Abstract Purpose The purpose of the study is to evaluate results and outcomes in a long-time follow-up period, by performing a novel testicular fixation procedure, known as “fat anchor orchidopexy” (FAO), for the treatment of palpable low inguinal undescended testis. Materials and methods We retrospectively reviewed all patients who underwent scrotal orchiopexy technique, from May 2013 to May 2019, at the Pediatric Surgery Division of Department of Surgical Pathology, University of Pisa (Italy). FAO (Spinelli’s technique) consists in anchoring the testicles to sub-scrotal fat with a single trans-scrotal incision. All the patients enrolled had history of unilateral or bilateral undescended testis. Data collected included patient’s age, operative times and complications. Results A total of 150 children with cryptorchidism were treated using a single trans-scrotal orchiopexy. Of them, 130 patients (86.7%) had unilateral undescended testis and 20 (13.3%) bilateral cryptorchidism. Mean patient’s age was 21 months (range: 14–28 months). All the procedures were planned in a day-surgery setting. Trans-scrotal orchiopexy was successful in all cases and no patients required an additional groin incision. No intraoperatively and postoperatively major complications were observed. Patients’ post-operative pain was mild (mean pediatric visual analog scale = 2). In all cases, the healing process was rapid and no surgical wounds infections were reported during the post-operative period, referring excellent cosmesis results. During a mean 48-month follow-up period, no testicular retraction, recurrence or testis atrophy was reported. Conclusion The original Spinelli’s technique (FAO) proves to be a safe and effective method for the treatment of palpable or distal-to-external-inguinal-ring testes. No immediate and delayed post-surgery complications were reported. In all cases, the anchored testicle remained in the scrotal position with normal vascularization. This novel surgical technique could give better options for scrotal fixation in case of low-lying cryptorchid testes.


Medicinus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Aziza Ghanie Icksan ◽  
Muhammad Hafiz ◽  
Annisa Dian Harlivasari

<p><strong>Background : </strong>The first case of COVID-19 in Indonesia was recorded in March 2020. Limitation of reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) has put chest CT as an essential complementary tool in the diagnosis and follow up treatment for COVID-19. Literatures strongly suggested that High-Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT) is essential in diagnosing typical symptoms of COVID-19 at the early phase of disease due to its superior sensitivity  (97%) compared to chest x-ray (CXR).</p><p>The two cases presented in this case study showed the crucial role of chest CT with HRCT to establish the working diagnosis and follow up COVID-19 patients as a complement to RT-PCR, currently deemed a gold standard.<strong></strong></p>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Alexander Okhuese

AbstractWith sensitivity of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test used to detect the presence of the virus in the human host, the global health community has been able to record a great number of recovered population. Therefore, in a bid to answer a burning question of reinfection in the recovered class, the model equations which exhibits the disease-free equilibrium (E0) state for COVID-19 coronavirus was developed in this study and was discovered to both exist as well as satisfy the criteria for a locally or globally asymptotic stability with a basic reproductive number R0 = 0 for and endemic situation. Hence, there is a chance of no secondary reinfections from the recovered population as the rate of incidence of the recovered population vanishes, that is, B = 0.Furthermore, numerical simulations were carried to complement the analytical results in investigating the effect of the implementation of quarantine and observatory procedures has on the projection of the further spread of the virus globally. Result shows that the proportion of infected population in the absence of curative vaccination will continue to grow globally meanwhile the recovery rate will continue slowly which therefore means that the ratio of infection to recovery rate will determine the death rate that is recorded globally and most significant for this study is the rate of reinfection by the recovered population which will decline to zero over time as the virus is cleared clinically from the system of the recovered class.


Author(s):  
Guiomar Pinheiro ◽  
Ana Margarida Alves ◽  
Isabel Neves ◽  
Teresa Sequeira

Pulmonary hypoplasia or agenesis is a rare congenital disorder that results in lung underdevelopment. This disease is usually found in children but rarely encountered in adults. We describe the case of an 84-year-old woman diagnosed with a unilateral pulmonary hypoplasia presenting simultaneously with left pulmonary artery hypoplasia. Due to this condition, the patient had a lifelong history of pulmonary infections that resulted in several bronchiectases in the affected lung. Moreover, the pulmonary artery hypoplasia led to the development of pulmonary hypertension and collateral circulation causing hemoptysis, giving rise to the patient attending the emergency department. Although we were able to medically manage the hemoptysis, it can be fatal and require surgical intervention. Hence, an early diagnosis is essential so that appropriate follow-up and prompt prevention and treatment of complications, such as pulmonary infections, hemoptysis and pulmonary hypertension, are achieved.


Blood ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 90 (7) ◽  
pp. 2768-2771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorit Blickstein ◽  
Adina Aviram ◽  
Jacob Luboshitz ◽  
Miron Prokocimer ◽  
Pinhas Stark ◽  
...  

Abstract One of the diagnostic criteria of essential thrombocythemia (ET) is the absence of the Philadelphia chromosome (Ph-neg). On the molecular level, Ph-neg ET patients may carry BCR-ABL transcript. The natural history of BCR-ABL positive Ph-neg ET patients is undetermined. We examined the BCR-ABL status by reverse transcriptase two-step nested polymerase chain reaction in bone marrow aspirates of 25 Ph-neg ET patients. We found 12 BCR-ABL positive and 13 BCR-ABL negative patients in the study group. The comparison showed that the two groups had similar clinical and laboratory characteristics, except for a significant increased patients' age and decreased polymorphonuclear cell count in the BCR-ABL positive group. During a median follow-up of 20 and 22.5 months for the BCR-ABL negative and positive groups, respectively, there was neither blastic transformation nor unrelated death in both groups. We conclude that it is important to look for BCR-ABL transcript in Ph-neg ET patients and to follow them closely to investigate the nature of this translocation in this group of patients.


Blood ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 1321-1325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanna Meloni ◽  
Daniela Diverio ◽  
Marco Vignetti ◽  
Giuseppe Avvisati ◽  
Saveria Capria ◽  
...  

Abstract Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of the PML/RARα fusion gene may predict relapse in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) patients in hematologic complete remission (CR). We have prospectively studied by RT-PCR 15 PML/RARα+ APL patients undergoing autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) in second CR. The median time of first CR duration was 12 months (range, 6 to 40). All patients were reinduced with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), followed in 12 of 15 cases by mitoxantrone and Ara-C as consolidation. Fourteen patients received the BAVC (BCNU, Ara-C, m-AMSA, and VP-16) schedule as conditioning regimen. Unpurged marrows were collected immediately before conditioning treatment, analyzed by RT-PCR, and reinfused at median of 2 months (range, 2 to 7) from the achievement of second CR. Seven patients were PCR+ and eight PCR− for PML/RARα in their pretransplant marrows. All seven patients of the former group remained PCR+ during the follow-up and relapsed at a median time of 5 months (range, 2 to 9) from ABMT and 9 months (range, 4 to 14) from second CR. Of the eight PCR− patients, all remained PCR− during the follow-up controls. One patient relapsed at 10 months from ABMT, one died of a secondary (PML/RARα−) leukemia, and six are in hematologic and molecular remission at a median time of 28 months (range, 15 to 60) after ABMT and 32 months (range, 17 to 62) from second CR. Our results indicate that, in APL patients in second CR, ABMT with PML/RARα− marrow cells is likely to result in prolonged clinical and molecular remissions. Conversely, patients who test PCR+ after reinduction necessitate the use of alternative aggressive approaches, including unrelated allogeneic transplant.


2003 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Lindén ◽  
K. Jonsson ◽  
I. Redlund-Johnell

Purpose: To investigate the clinical and radiological characteristics of osteochondritis dissecans (OD) of the hip and the Outcome of this condition after treatment. Material and Methods: Twelve male and 3 female patients with OD were retrospectively studied. Six patients had a history of Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease (LCPD) and among them 2 also had had a trauma to the hip. A further 5 had had trauma and 1 a developmental dislocation of the hip (DDH). The remaining 3 patients had no history of previous hip disease or trauma. All patients were examined with plain radiography, 7 with MR, 3 with CT and 2 with hip arthrography. Results: All OD lesions were detected at plain radiography, and most of them were located near the fovea. At MR the lesions had low signal intensity at T1-weighted sequences, and 6/7 had edema or fluid collection in or adjacent to the lesion on T2-weighted sequences. The early treatment in 7 patients was surgery, 2 had had conservative treatment and 6 no treatment. At follow-up 12 years after radiological diagnosis, 5 patients had hip arthrosis, 4 of whom were treated with arthroplasty. All but 3 had reduced hip rotation and all but 2 (with arthroplasty) had load pain. Three of the patients with earlier surgery had not developed arthrosis. Conclusions: OD lesions are usually well seen with plain radiography. There is a great risk of developing early arthrosis and it seems that early surgery is connected with arthrosis development. Thus only symptomatic treatment is recommended.


Blood ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 1000-1005 ◽  
Author(s):  
SK Aoki ◽  
PV Holland ◽  
LP Fernando ◽  
IK Kuramoto ◽  
S Anderson ◽  
...  

Abstract When hepatitis C virus antibody (anti-HCV) enzyme immunoassay (EIA1) testing became available in 1990, we tested samples from previously transfused blood units, traced the recipients of reactive units, and evaluated the recipients for HCV infection during the 12 months after transfusion. Ten of 42 recipients of EIA1-reactive blood were anti-HCV reactive on follow-up by EIA1 and 12 were reactive by a second- generation assay (EIA2). Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) detected HCV RNA in 5 seronegative recipients. In all, 17 of 42 recipients (40%) of EIA1-reactive blood had evidence of HCV infection. In comparison, 54 surgery patients, who received either no transfusion or autologous EIA1-nonreactive blood, remained EIA1 nonreactive and RT-PCR negative for 1 year; 1 patient (1.8%) became EIA2 reactive (P < or = .01). Of the recipients of anti-HVC reactive blood transfusions (reactive by both EIA1 and a supplemental 4-antigen strip immunoblot assay [RIBA2]), 14 (93%) of the recipients had evidence of HCV infection compared with only 3 of 27 recipients (11%) of EIA1-reactive, RIBA2-nonreactive blood (P < or = .01). Thus, blood components reactive for anti-HCV EIA1 may have transmitted HCV up to 40% of the time, but blood components found reactive by both EIA1 and RIBA2 may transmit HCV with a frequency of greater than 90%.


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