Effects of Tocilizumab on Inflammation and Iron Metabolism in Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19.

COVID-19 produces cytokine-mediated persistent inflammation and is associated with elevated iron stores and low circulating iron. It is believed that central to the pathophysiological mechanism is interleukin 6 and hepcidin. A state of iron overload, termed hyperferritinemia, and inflammatory anemia take place.

Tissue prints for the rapid diagnosis of malignancy in lung cancer.

Unlabelled: Rapid diagnosis of malignancy during oncological surgery is crucial for making decisions related to the extension of the resection. The tissue prints, used initially for plant biology but also for prostate or breast cancer diagnosis, might be useful as a rapid cytological diagnosis.

Materials And Methods: Tissue prints were done from freshly sectioned excised tissue fragments in patients operated between March 2010 and February 2012 in the Department of Surgery for cancer or benign lesions.

[Histoplasmosis (infection with Histoplasma capsulatum, capsulatum variety)].

Histoplasmosis is an endemic mycosis in some regions in the US, but it can be more and more often imported to Europe. One of the clinical characters of the infection is the variety of shapes it can have, many similar to tuberculosis. It can be associated to HIV infection, being the most frequent mycosis in these patients in endemic regions.

[The results of a questionnaire concerning pulmonary tuberculosis patients' opinions with regard to their disease].

To a lot of 134 TB patients, admitted for different periods in our pneumology department, a questionnaire with 8 simple questions was applied respecting the sociologic enquiry method. The analyse of the results allowed the identification of one group of 30% of patients who could become noncompliant to the treatment because of lacking of elementary sanitary knowledge and of a second group of 8-10% of patients requiring psychologic support.