Journal of Disease and Diagnosis
Volume:10 Issue: 2, Jun 2021

Fever is one of the most common causes of children’s referral to the emergency department, for which in 20% of cases no clear source is found. Latent pneumonia is not easily differentiable as one of the differential diagnoses of fever of unknown origin (FUO). This study aimed to determine the relationship between FUO and latent pneumonia in feverish children referring to pediatric emergency department.

The present analytical research was carried out on 220 children with FUO aged 3-36 months referred to pediatric hospital of Bandar Abbas, Iran in 2019. To find the signs and symptoms, demographic information, history, and physical examination results were recorded by a physician using a predetermined checklist. Chest x-ray and blood sample were prepared for white blood cell (WBC) count, C-reactive protein (CRP), and absolute neutrophil count (ANC).

The mean age of the patients was 18.38±8.6 months. There was no significant difference between the mean fever, pulse rate, respiratory rate, WBC count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and ANC among the three groups differentiated by their diagnosis. The mean CRP in the bacterial pneumonia group was 68.17±24.13, while it was 35.00±20.43 in the viral infection group and 35.71±26.20 in the group of other diseases; the difference was statistically significant (P=0.004).

Although there was no significant difference between WBC, ANC, and ESR and latent pneumonia, there was a significant difference between CRP and latent pneumonia, whose value was larger in these patients.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a global pandemic. The aim of the present study was to analyze the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 patients in Rudan county so that regional managers can make timely and effective decisions.

This is a cross-sectional study performed on all registered patients with confirmed COVID-19 in Rudan county by July 10, 2020. Patient information was extracted from COVID-19 patient information registration system. The collected data included gender, age, mortality, underlying disease, time of infection, occupation, contact history, and hospitalizations. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.0.

In this study, 614 (56%) of the patients were male and 477 (43%) were female. The mean age of patients was 43 ± 17 years. A total of 136 patients (12.5%) had at least one underlying disease. The majority of patients with underlying diseases (75%) had a history of contact with a patient with confirmed COVID-19. There was no statistically significant relationship between mortality and gender. The mean age of inpatients and outpatients was 56 ± 19 and 40 ± 15 years, respectively. Most deaths occurred among the elderly and housewives, and the highest infection rate also occurred among the latter group.

In a situation where the COVID-19 pandemic is a global threat, health systems must demonstrate appropriate and timely responses based on the development and implementation of preventive policies and the care of vulnerable and high-risk patients.

Considering the importance of health anxiety (HA) and its impact on the management of a pandemic, the present study investigated HA among healthcare workers during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

The sample of this cross-sectional study consisted of 220 healthcare staff working in health centers and hospitals in Iran. Participants were selected using convenience sampling method. The data collection tool was a two-part questionnaire. The first part contained demographic information and the second part included a health anxiety questionnaire (HAQ). This questionnaire was provided to the target community through social media and the required data was collected. Data analysis was carried out using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 21 (IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y., USA).

In the present study, out of 220 participants 128 (58.2%) were employed in health centers and 92 (41.8%) in hospitals. The mean HA score was 17.36 ± 7.66. Moreover, the mean HA scores in health center and hospital personnel was 17.81± 8.02 and 16.52 ± 6.78, respectively, which were not significantly different (P=0.217). The results showed that exercise and chronic disease are significant predictors of HA (P=0.0001 and P=0.043, respectively).

The HA level was very high in healthcare personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study showed that physical activity and having an underlying disease are important predictors of HA. Hence, in order to reduce the level of anxiety in healthcare personnel, it is recommended to plan regular physical activity programs and make changes in the work schedule of personnel with underlying disease

Gastric cancer is one of the most common cancers and is one of the most frequent causes of cancer death worldwide. In recent years, there has been a great deal of emphasis on the use of pathology reporting standards. Therefore, the aim of this study was how to report the pathological indicators of gastric malignancies in samples sent to the Pathology Department of Shahid Sadoughi hospital in Yazd in Iran in 2016-2018.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 174 patients. Study variables including age and gender, type of biopsy, the extent of gastric tissue involvement, exact anatomical location, tumor size, histological grading, invasion of surrounding tissues, and lymph node metastasis were extracted from patients’ records. Data were analyzed by SPSS 22. Frequency and percentage were reported using descriptive statistics and Chi-square/Fisher’s exact test for qualitative variables and independent sample t-test for quantitative variables. Finally, graphs were drawn using Excel 2010.

Out of 174 participants, 63.8% were females (n = 111). Most reports were related to the histology of adenocarcinoma (n = 136, P=78.20), tumor size (n = 89, P=51.15), and anatomical exact location (n = 90, P=51.70), respectively. Regarding the exact anatomical location of 90 patients, most reports were related to the antrum (n = 38, P=42.23). The highest prevalence of histological type of adenocarcinoma was related to poorly differentiated cases (n = 57, P=41.94).

The findings of this study showed that the method of reporting pathological indicators in gastric malignancies in the studied cases was somewhat appropriate

Leiomyoma as one of the most prevalent tumors in women occurs at the same time of reproductive age and its causes are still unknown. Hormone therapy is one of the common treatments for this disease. Estrogen hormone through its receptor, which is called ER α, plays an effective role in the treatment of leiomyoma. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are effective in the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of many diseases and tumors. In this regard, the current study investigated the estrogen receptor gene polymorphisms of ER α in women with leiomyoma in Sistan and Baluchestan province, Zahedan and then compared them with healthy individuals.

Overall, 150 women with leiomyoma were sampled and their DNA was isolated as well. In addition, 150 samples were taken from healthy individuals as the control group. The polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method and PvuII were used to study gene polymorphisms.

The results showed a significant relationship between ER α gene polymorphism and leiomyoma.

Accordingly, this gene polymorphism can be considered as a marker for prognosis in leiomyoma in the population of Iranian women in Zahedan, Sistan and Baluchestan province.

Computed tomography (CT) is vastly applied in X-ray procedures because of its high quality in detecting the anatomical structures of the body. However, it leads to an increase in patient dose, resulting in carcinogenesis. In the head and neck CT, the thyroid is the most important at-risk organ. The aim of this study was to estimate thyroid cancer risk in cervical CT with and without a bismuth shield.

After obtaining permission from the authors, data related to the thyroid dose of patients undergoing cervical CT in the study by Santos et al (2019) were used, and then thyroid cancer risk was calculated for different ages at exposure in male and female patients using the biological effects of the ionizing radiation (BEIR) VII model.

Using bismuth shielding reduced thyroid dose by 37% and 39% in male and female phantoms, respectively. Thyroid cancer estimation demonstrated that the risk was nearly two-fold in females compared to males. Finally, bismuth shielding reduced 40% of cancer risk, and it decreased in both genders by increasing age at exposure.

According to our findings, excess relative risk (ERR) up to 0.06% was associated with cervical CT. Although ERR amounts were low, the effect of radiation on thyroid cancer risk should not be neglected. Accordingly, it is suggested that future trials use bismuth shielding to reduce thyroid cancer risk.

Selenium nanoparticles (Se NPs) and selenium nanocomposites (Se NCs) have different biological effects. The current study aimed to compare the effects of newly synthesized Se NPs and Se NCs on biochemical and histopathological parameters of rats. The synthesized Se NPs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques.

Adult male Wistar rats were divided into four equal groups to examine the biological effects of Se NPs. Control rats received saline intraperitoneally while experimental rats were received four-week intraperitoneal injections of Se powder, Se NPs, and Se NCs at the dose of (0.4 mg/kg). After four weeks, serum was obtained by the conventional methods, and then rats were sacrificed to separate liver, kidney, and testis tissues for histopathological examinations.

The intraperitoneal injection of Se powder caused significant elevations in serum liver enzyme levels, serum blood urea nitrogen (BUN) lipid peroxidation, and serum creatinine levels (P<0.05). The histopathological investigations showed necrosis and fatty change in liver. Kidney sections showed cytoplasmic vacuolation and hyaline casts, and the testis sections showed degeneration of seminiferous tubules. Se NPs intraperitoneal injections at a dose of 0.4 mg/kg caused no significant effects on liver enzymes, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and histopathological changes while significantly increased serum BUN and creatinine levels (P<0.05). The group treated with Se NCs showed normal biochemical and histopathological parameters (P<0.05).

The current study proved the toxicity of Se powder; however, nano-formulations of Se showed fewer side effects.

Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) and Graves’ disease (GD) are autoimmune inflammatory thyroid disorders. The evolution from GD into HT is the most common scenario while the conversion from HT into GD seems to be less common.

A 20-year-old female patient referred to the endocrinology clinic with a threemonth history of fatigue, lethargy, lack of appetite, constipation, menorrhagia, cold intolerance, and 5 kg weight gain in the last two months. Clinical examination showed dry skin, scalp hair loss, and painless hard goiter whereas thyroid ultrasound revealed generalized homogeneous hypoechoic thyroid hypertrophy. Laboratory tests demonstrated increased serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) 210 µIU/L (normal: 0.25-4.50), decreased free thyroxine (FT4) 0.37 ng/L (normal: 0.8-1.8) and free triiodothyronine (FT3) 1.94 pg/mL (normal: 1.8-4.6), and finally, increased thyroid peroxidase antibodies (anti-TPO) 462 IU/mL (normal: up to 34). Based on observations, HT was diagnosed and thus daily treatment with levothyroxine 75 mcg was started for the patient. Two months later, she referred with symptoms suggestive of hyperthyroidism with reduced TSH levels, which did not improve after levothyroxine cessation, thus more laboratory tests were conducted and revealed decreased TSH levels, increased T3 and T4, and TSH receptor stimulating antibody (TSAb)levels, and increased radioactive iodine uptake at 24 hours. Therefore, the diagnosis of GD was made. Five weeks after treatment, she was in full remission.

Although the switch from HT into GD is rare, it can occur at any time during the disease. Nonetheless, early diagnosis and treatment would improve the quality of care.