Medicine
-
Acute respiratory infections block the bronchial and/or nasal systems' airways. These infections may present in a variety of ways, from minor symptoms like the common cold to more serious illnesses like pneumonia or lung collapse. Acute respiratory infections cause over 1.3 million infant deaths under the age of 5 each year throughout the world. ⋯ The most common causes were acute tonsillitis and acute upper respiratory infections of multiple and unspecified sites, which accounted for 43.1% and 39.4%, respectively. Hospital admissions rate due to acute upper respiratory infections increased sharply during the study period. The rates of hospital admissions were higher among those in the age group below 15 and 75 years and above for the majority of respiratory infections, with a higher incidence in females.
-
Observational Study
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adverse fetal outcomes: A cross-sectional study.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been one of the most damaging pandemics in all of human history. Some of the most vulnerable groups within society such as pregnant women and children have also been affected. This observational research, cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate if there was any difference in the incidence of unfavorable outcomes in pregnancy such as miscarriage, intrauterine fetal demise, and early neonatal death during the year prior to the pandemic and the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ The study included all pregnant women who had an unfavorable pregnancy outcome such as miscarriage and intrauterine fetal demise, as well as early neonatal death at the University Hospital of Split within the time frame mentioned previously. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes in the year prior to the pandemic and during the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study showed that the pandemic did not have a negative effect on pregnant women and their fetuses; there was no increase in miscarriage, intrauterine fetal demise, or perinatal death during the year of the pandemic.
-
Herpes zoster (HZ) is an infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus reactivation, often leading to peripheral nervous system infection and pain. This case report aimed to present 2 patients with damaged sensory nerves originating from the visceral neurons of the lateral horn of the spinal cord. ⋯ Herpetic visceral neuralgia can be easily misdiagnosed due to the absence of a rash or herpes, resulting in delayed treatment. When patients have severe, intractable pain but no rash or herpes, and the biochemical and imaging examinations are normal, the treatment method for HZ neuralgia can be used. If the treatment is effective, HZ neuralgia is diagnosed. If not, shingles neuralgia can be ruled out. Further investigations are required to elucidate the mechanisms of pathophysiological changes in varicella-zoster virus-induced peripheral HZ neuralgia or visceral neuralgia without herpes.
-
Pancreatic cancer is a highly malignant cancer with a poor prognosis. Owing to the strong drug resistance of pancreatic cancer, adjuvant chemotherapy has failed to achieve good results in clinical practice. The expression profile data of circular RNA (circRNA) (GSE110580), microRNA (miRNA) (GSE79234), and messenger RNA (mRNA) (GSE140077, GES35141) were obtained from the gene expression omnibus database. ⋯ By differential expression analysis, 22 differential circRNAs (8 upregulated and 14 downregulated), 70 differential microRNAs (37 upregulated and 33 downregulated), and 256 differential messenger RNA (DEmRNA) (161 upregulated and 95 downregulated) were obtained. Gene ontology and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes enrichment analyses showed that DEmRNAs were associated with drug response, exogenous cellular stimulation, and the tumor necrosis factor signaling pathway. The screened downregulated differential circular RNA (hsa_circ_0007401), upregulated differential microRNA (hsa-miR-6509-3p), and downregulated DEmRNA (FLI1) were consistent with the negative regulation mechanism of the ceRNA network, and FLI1 was significantly downregulated in the data of gemcitabine-resistant pancreatic cancer patients in the cancer genome atlas (n = 26).
-
We compared the therapeutic effect of catheter direct thrombolysis (CDT) and peripheral venous thrombolysis (PVT) for patients with acute pulmonary embolism (APE). Totally, 74 patients with APE were enrolled, including 37 in the CDT group and 37 in the PVT group. The changes in clinical indicators pre and posttreatment were observed. ⋯ The bleeding incidence in the CDT group was significantly lower than that in the PVT group (P < .05). The median survival time in the CDT group was significantly longer than that in the PVT group (P < .05). CDT can more effectively improve symptoms, cardiac function, and survival rate of APE patients while reducing bleeding incidence than PVT, and thus is safe and effective in treating APE.