Automated Quantification of Pneumonia Infected Volume in Lung CT Images: A Comparison with Subjective Assessment of Radiologists.

Objective: To help improve radiologists' efficacy of disease diagnosis in reading computed tomography (CT) images, this study aims to investigate the feasibility of applying a modified deep learning (DL) method as a new strategy to automatically segment disease-infected regions and predict disease severity.

Methods: We employed a public dataset acquired from 20 COVID-19 patients, which includes manually annotated lung and infections masks, to train a new ensembled DL model that combines five customized residual attention U-Net models to segment disease infected regions followed by a Feature Pyramid Network model to predict disease severity stage. To test the potential clinical utility of the new DL model, we conducted an observer comparison study.

Etelcalcetide and Paricalcitol in Chronic Kidney Disease: When the Target Is Inflammation.

Introduction: secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHP) is frequent in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), particularly in those in dialysis. To treat this complication, the current options available include phosphorus restriction, phosphate binders, the inhibition of parathyroid hormone (PTH) synthesis and secretion by the supplementation of vitamin D or VDR activators, or the use of calcimimetics. Beyond the control of PTH, the effects of the treatment of SHP on other biomarkers of risk may represent an additional benefit for this population.

Lack of Accuracy of Biomarkers and Physical Examination to Detect Bacterial Infection in Febrile Infants.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze the usefulness of physical examination, C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), white blood cell (WBC) count, and absolute neutrophils counts (ANCs) for the diagnosis of invasive bacterial infections (IBIs) and potentially serious bacterial infections in infants younger than the age of 3 months presenting with fever without source (FWS) to the emergency department (ED).

Methods: A descriptive retrospective study that includes all infants aged younger than 3 months who presented with FWS to the ED between July 2008 and January 2012. We evaluated diagnostic performance for each test by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.

[Cardiorespiratory capacity in children living at moderate altitude].

Objective: To determine the cardiorespiratory capacity of school children living at moderate altitude.

Patients And Method: 795 children (394 children and 401 girls) were selected from urban public schools in Arequipa, Peru at moderate altitude (2,320 m). Anthropometric variables (body mass, height, body fat percentage) and cardiorespiratory capacity were assessed using the Course Navette test, considering the following categories: deficient, poor, fair, good, very good and excellent.

[Psychosocial aspects in a cohort of vertically transmitted human immunodeficiency virus-infected adolescents].

Introduction: Thanks to advances in antiretroviral treatment, children with HIV infections through vertical transmission have improved their life expectancy. However, new challenges have emerged. We propose this study in order to determine the psychosocial aspects and knowledge of infections in a cohort of adolescents with vertically transmitted HIV infections.