Image processing lumbar spine to highlight the location of the herniated disc

Low back pain is a common disease. A common cause of this problem is a herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Lumbar disc herniation represents the displacement of the disc (annular fibrosis or medullary nuclei). While most cases, the pain will disappear in a few days to a few weeks; however, it can last for three months or more. Detection and diagnosis are the two most important tasks in a computer-aided diagnostic system. In this article, we use images taken from the results of the MRI imaging of the patient. Through the use of image inversion to highlight the position of degenerative discs. This result wishes to provide a simple and inexpensive diagnostic image processing method to help doctors quickly determine the degree of disc herniation, the status of lumbar discs, they can give the appropriate treatment to the patient.

Harmless Acute Pancreatitis Score

Introduction: Acute Pancreatitis is a common disease in our region. It can range from mild to severe disease with high mortality rate. It is critical to identify patients who are at high risk for a severe disease course, since they require close monitoring and immediate aggressive treatment. Aims: To compare the effectiveness of Harmless Acute Pancreatitis Score with Ranson’s scoring system in predicting the severity of Acute Pancreatitis. Methods: A prospective cross sectional study was done among 45 patients who were admitted in surgery department over a period of one year with diagnosis of acute pancreatitis. If haematocrit was less than39% in female and less than43% in male, serum creatinine less than two miligram /deciliter and no sign of peritonitis, it was assigned as Harmless Acute Pancreatitis Score Zero. If at least one parameter was abnormal it was assigned as Harmless Acute Pancreatitis Score +. Severe pancreatitis (poor prognosis) was considered in those who required Intensive Care Unit care, who had in hospital mortality and who had hospitalization of more than five days. Patients with on admission Ranson’s score of more than three were suspected to have severe Pancreatitis. Results: There were total 45 patients, 18 females and 27 males. Twenty four patients were assigned as Harmless Acute Pancreatitis Score zero and 21 patients were assigned as Harmless Acute Pancreatitis Score +. Harmless Acute Pancreatitis Score was able to predict correctly in 18 out of 26 patients who fulfilled the criteria of poor prognosis (p<0.001). Conclusion: Harmless Acute Pancreatitis Score proved to be a better screening tool compared to on admission Ranson’s scoring system to predict the severity of Acute Pancreatitis, which may help predict the prognosis of the patient.

Usefulness of Serial Multiorgan Point-of-Care Ultrasound in Acute Heart Failure: Results from a Prospective Observational Cohort

Background and Objectives: Acute heart failure (AHF) is a common disease and a cause of high morbidity and mortality, constituting a major health problem. The main purpose of this study was to determine the impact of multiorgan ultrasound in identifying pulmonary hypertension (PH), a major prognostic factor in patients admitted due to AHF, and assess whether there are significant changes in the venous excess ultrasonography (VE × US) score or femoral vein Doppler at discharge. Materials and Methods: Patients were evaluated with a standard protocol of lung ultrasound, echocardiography, inferior vena cava (IVC) and hepatic, portal, intra-renal and femoral vein Doppler flow patterns at admission and on the day of discharge. Results: Thirty patients were enrolled during November 2021. The mean age was seventy-nine years (Standard Deviation–SD 13.4). Seven patients (23.3%) had a worsening renal function during hospitalization. Regarding ultrasound findings, VE × US score was calculated at admission and at discharge, unexpectedly remaining unchanged or even worsened (21 patients, 70.0%). The area under the curve for the lung score was 83.9% (p = 0.008), obtaining a cutoff value of 10 that showed a sensitivity of 82.6% and a specificity of 71.4% in the identification of intermediate and high PH. It was possible to monitor significant changes between both exams on the lung score (16.5 vs. 9.3; p < 0.001), improvement in the hepatic vein Doppler pattern (2.4 vs. 2.1; p = 0.002), improvement in portal vein Doppler pattern (1.7 vs. 1.4; p = 0.023), without significant changes in the intra-renal vein Doppler pattern (1.70 vs. 1.57; p = 0.293), VE × US score (1.3 vs. 1.1; p = 0.501), femoral vein Doppler pattern (2.4 vs. 2.1; p = 0.161) and IVC collapsibility (2.0 vs. 2.1; p = 0.420). Conclusions: Our study results suggest that performing serial multiorgan Point-of-Care ultrasound can help us to better identify high and intermediate probability of PH patients with AHF. Currently proposed multi-organ, venous Doppler scanning protocols, such as the VE × US score, should be further studied before expanding its use in AHF patients.

Scrub typhus, a rare of cause of fulminant hepatic failure: A common disease with uncommon presentation

Scrub typhus (bush typhus) is a potentially lethal mite-borne, acute febrile infectious illness caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi, reported precipitating frequent outbreaks in the Asia-pacific belt. Usual presentation after a median incubation period of 10–14 days, stretches from pathognomonic eschar, high-grade fever, centrifugal skin rash, jaundice, regional lymphadenopathy to frontal headache, nevertheless complicated at times with myocarditis, acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute kidney injury, encephalitis, and shock. Although patients with scrub typhus invariably do display mild liver injury, fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) is rarely reported. We describe herein, a case of FHF in an elderly male that responded well to antibiotics. Early diagnosis and sensitive antibiotic administration aids in mortality prevention of the former.

Topology preserving stratification of tissue neoplasticity using Deep Neural Maps and microRNA signatures

Background Accurate cancer classification is essential for correct treatment selection and better prognostication. microRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNA molecules that negatively regulate gene expression, and their dyresgulation is a common disease mechanism in many cancers. Through a clearer understanding of miRNA dysregulation in cancer, improved mechanistic knowledge and better treatments can be sought. Results We present a topology-preserving deep learning framework to study miRNA dysregulation in cancer. Our study comprises miRNA expression profiles from 3685 cancer and non-cancer tissue samples and hierarchical annotations on organ and neoplasticity status. Using unsupervised learning, a two-dimensional topological map is trained to cluster similar tissue samples. Labelled samples are used after training to identify clustering accuracy in terms of tissue-of-origin and neoplasticity status. In addition, an approach using activation gradients is developed to determine the attention of the networks to miRNAs that drive the clustering. Using this deep learning framework, we classify the neoplasticity status of held-out test samples with an accuracy of 91.07%, the tissue-of-origin with 86.36%, and combined neoplasticity status and tissue-of-origin with an accuracy of 84.28%. The topological maps display the ability of miRNAs to recognize tissue types and neoplasticity status. Importantly, when our approach identifies samples that do not cluster well with their respective classes, activation gradients provide further insight in cancer subtypes or grades. Conclusions An unsupervised deep learning approach is developed for cancer classification and interpretation. This work provides an intuitive approach for understanding molecular properties of cancer and has significant potential for cancer classification and treatment selection.

Nontypical presentation of a common disease: a case report

Background Kawasaki disease is an idiopathic medium-sized vasculitis that occurs primarily in infants and children younger than 5 years of age. Atypical Kawasaki disease applies to patients who do not fulfill the complete criteria of fever of 5 days or more with at least four of five features: bilateral conjunctival injection, changes in the lips and oral cavity, cervical lymphadenopathy, extremity changes, and polymorphous rash. Acute kidney injury is defined as a sudden decline in kidney function within hours, including structural injuries and loss of function. Acute kidney injury is extremely common in hospitalized pediatric patients. However, it is rarely documented in Kawasaki disease. Acute kidney injury is underestimated in Kawasaki disease due to the lack of a clear definition of age-specific normal serum creatinine levels and routine renal functions. This report describes a case who presented with clinical features suggestive of atypical Kawasaki disease and developed acute kidney injury. Case presentation A 2-year-old Saudi girl had a history of high-grade fever for 5 days, moderate dehydration, dry cracked lips, poor appetite, and generalized erythematous rash; therefore, she was diagnosed to have incomplete Kawasaki disease. Laboratory investigations revealed normochromic normocytic anemia, leukocytosis, thrombocytosis, high inflammatory markers, and acute kidney injury stage III. An echocardiogram showed a 4-mm dilatation on the left main coronary artery and a 3-mm dilatation on the right. A renal biopsy was not performed to identify the cause of the injury as it showed improvements after the start of the specific therapy for Kawasaki disease; intravenous immune globulin at a dose of 2 g/kg, aspirin at a high dosage of 80 mg/kg/day, and prednisolone at 2 mg/kg. In addition to the acute kidney injury management, normal saline boluses were followed by furosemide at a 2 mg/kg dose. Her urine output increased, and her renal functions normalized. She was discharged in good condition after 10 days. Conclusions It is valuable to check renal function tests in a confirmed case of Kawasaki disease to reduce the negative consequences of late acute kidney injury discovery. Early detection and intervention make a substantial difference in acute kidney injury management.

Appropriateness of Antibiotic Prescribing in Patients Discharged From a Community Hospital Emergency Department

IMPORTANCE: Every year, thousands of emergency department (ED) visits result in patients being discharged with oral antibiotic prescriptions. Published studies that assess the appropriateness of these antibiotic regimens are limited. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the appropriateness of antibiotic prescriptions written for patients discharged from a community hospital’s ED. ENDPOINTS: The primary objective was to determine the overall percent of appropriate antibiotic prescriptions for patients discharged from the ED. Secondary objectives included the following: identify reasons for inappropriateness categorized by antibiotic selection, dose, duration, and allergies; identify the most common antibiotics prescribed inappropriately as well as the most common disease states that led to inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics; and analyze prescribing trends based on provider type and time of day the prescription was written. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Patients eligible for inclusion were adults age 18 and older who presented to the ED during four chosen weeks in 2019 and who were discharged with oral antibiotics. Extracted electronic health record data was reviewed to identify the discharge diagnosis for each patient that meets the inclusion criteria. Pertinent information gathered from the patients’ medical records along with a validated antimicrobial assessment tool were utilized to determine the level of appropriateness of the prescribed antibiotic regimens. RESULTS: A total of 76% of the prescribed antibiotics were appropriate, 16% were inappropriate, and the remaining 8% were not assessable. Duration was the most common reason for a regimen to not be optimal. The most frequently inappropriately prescribed antibiotics included cephalexin (but it is noted cephalexin was included in almost half of the antibiotic regimens in this study), clindamycin, and azithromycin. Infections that were most frequently treated inappropriately were skin and soft tissue infections, dental infections, and sinusitis. Overall, medical residents prescribed the highest percent of appropriate regimens, and the time of day that had the highest percent of appropriate prescriptions was third shift (11 p.m. to 7 a.m.). CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE: Almost half of all the nonoptimal antibiotic regimens had an excessive duration. Targeted local education efforts and future clinical decision support can facilitate appropriate prescribing of discharge antibiotics from the ED, ultimately improving antimicrobial stewardship within the community.

PKM2 Modulation in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

The enzyme pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) plays a major role in the switch of tumor cells from oxidative phosphorylation to aerobic glycolysis, one of the hallmarks of cancer. Different allosteric inhibitors or activators and several posttranslational modifications regulate its activity. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a common disease with a high rate of recurrence. To find out more about PKM2 and its modulation in HNSCC, we examined a panel of HNSCC cells using real-time cell metabolic analysis and Western blotting with an emphasis on phosphorylation variant Tyr105 and two reagents known to impair PKM2 activity. Our results show that in HNSCC, PKM2 is commonly phosphorylated at Tyrosine 105. Its levels depended on tyrosine kinase activity, emphasizing the importance of growth factors such as EGF (epidermal growth factor) on HNSCC metabolism. Furthermore, its correlation with the expression of CD44 indicates a role in cancer stemness. Cells generally reacted with higher glycolysis to PKM2 activator DASA-58 and lower glycolysis to PKM2 inhibitor Compound 3k, but some were more susceptible to activation and others to inhibition. Our findings emphasize the need to further investigate the role of PKM2 in HNSCC, as it could aid understanding and treatment of the disease.

Gut microbiota promotes cholesterol gallstone formation by modulating bile acid composition and biliary cholesterol secretion

Cholesterol gallstone disease is a worldwide common disease. Cholesterol supersaturation in gallbladder bile is the prerequisite for its pathogenesis, while the mechanism is not completely understood. In this study, we find enrichment of gut microbiota (especially Desulfovibrionales) in patients with gallstone disease. Fecal transplantation of gut microbiota from gallstone patients to gallstone-resistant strain of mice can induce gallstone formation. Carrying Desulfovibrionales is associated with enhanced cecal secondary bile acids production and increase of bile acid hydrophobicity facilitating intestinal cholesterol absorption. Meanwhile, the metabolic product of Desulfovibrionales, H2S increase and is shown to induce hepatic FXR and inhibit CYP7A1 expression. Mice carrying Desulfovibrionales present induction of hepatic expression of cholesterol transporters Abcg5/g8 to promote biliary secretion of cholesterol as well. Our study demonstrates the role of gut microbiota, Desulfovibrionales, as an environmental regulator contributing to gallstone formation through its influence on bile acid and cholesterol metabolism.

Planning and diagnostic nursing strategy in the clinical management of the patient with hyperthroidism

Hyperthyroidism is a common disease that affects 0.8% of the population in Europe. It occurs when the thyroid gland produces more thyroid hormones than your body needs. There are several types of treatment, such as antithyroid drugs, treatment with radioactive iodine (131I) and finally surgery, in addition to these treatments, reference is made to a good hygienic-dietary orientation. Objective: to assess from the nursing field the safest and most effective type of hyperthyroidism treatment, including the risk factors to take into account when carrying out these. Methodology: systematic searches were carried out in bibliographic sources of trials and articles published between 2015 and 2021. Including studies that contained data on risk factors for hyperthyroidism. Results: of 426 related articles found, 13 met the inclusion criteria. Total thyroidectomy surgery induced a 26% therapeutic failure rate and 95% radioactive iodine treatment compared to the 19.1% therapeutic failure in antithyroid drug treatment. Conclusion: Despite the verification of the efficacy of all existing hyperthyroidism treatments, antithyroid drugs have greater efficacy and safety than the rest of the treatments studied, in relation to the time and rate of remission. On the other hand, risk factors such as tobacco and female sex are evidenced, which are negative factors when carrying out treatment for hyperthyroidism.