Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding and infectivity in immunized population: Prospective study along different epidemiological periods in Argentina.

During the pandemic of COVID-19, numerous waves of infections affected the two hemispheres with different impacts on each country. Throughout these waves, and with the emergence of new variants, health systems and scientists have tried to provide real-time responses to the complex biology of SARS-CoV-2, dealing with different clinical presentations, biological characteristics, and clinical impact of these variants. In this context, knowing the extent period in which an infected individual releases infectious viral particles has important implications for public health.

Cost-Effective Method to Perform SARS-CoV-2 Variant Surveillance: Detection of Alpha, Gamma, Lambda, Delta, Epsilon, and Zeta in Argentina.

SARS-CoV-2 variants with concerning characteristics have emerged since the end of 2020. Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 variants was performed on a total of 4,851 samples from the capital city and 10 provinces of Argentina, during 51 epidemiological weeks (EWs) that covered the end of the first wave and the ongoing second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country (EW 44/2020 to EW 41/2021). The surveillance strategy was mainly based on Sanger sequencing of a Spike coding region that allows the identification of signature mutations associated with variants.

Non-functioning pituitary adenomas and pregnancy: one-center experience and review of the literature.

The usual clinical presentation of non-functioning pituitary adenoma (NFPA) consists of symptoms of mass effect and hypopituitarism. NFPA is a rare condition in young women and an uncommon complication during pregnancy. We present the outcome of three patients with NFPA during pregnancy.

Usefulness of blood cultures in COVID-19 pneumonia.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has strained the world's health systems, highlighting the need to optimize its clinical management and treatment. The usefulness of blood cultures in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia has not been proved. We aim to describe the diagnostic yield of early blood cultures in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia in a public hospital in Buenos Aires City.

Flow cytometry "Ogata score" for the diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndromes in a real-life setting. A Latin American experience.

Introduction: Flow cytometry (FC) is a helpful tool for the diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Different FC score systems have been developed. The "Ogata score" is a simple diagnostic score that has been validated having a sensitivity of 69% and a specificity of 92% in low-risk MDS.

[Environmental intervention in respiratory disease].

In recent years there has been a significant increase in the prevalence of allergic diseases despite advances in the understanding of the pathogenesis, the dissemination of guidelines for its management and the emergence of new drugs. The reasons for this increase are not fully established, but it is suggested that multiple environmental factors may be involved. Inhaled air contains numerous harmful agents in addition to environmental allergens.

Inherited thrombophilia and pregnancy loss. Study of an Argentinian cohort.

Background And Objectives: Thrombophilia might increase the risk of suffering from obstetric complications by adversely affecting the normal placental vascular function. Our aim was to study the distributions of five thrombosis-associated genetic variants: factor V Leiden, prothrombin G20210A, -675 4G/5G PAI-1, 10034C/T gamma fibrinogen and 7872C/T factor XI and the frequencies of the deficiencies of protein C, S and antithrombin in Argentinian patients with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) and, therefore, to analyse their association with the risk and timing of RPL and the risk of suffering other vascular obstetric pathologies.

Patients And Methods: We performed a case-control study that included 247 patients with idiopathic RPL (cases), 107 fertile controls and 224 subjects from general population (reference group).

Neuromyelitis optica: association with paroxysmal painful tonic spasms.

Introduction: Paroxysmal painful tonic spasms (PPTS) were initially described in multiple sclerosis (MS) but they are more frequent in neuromyelitis optica (NMO). The objective is to report their presence in a series of cases of NMO and NMO spectrum disorders (NMOSD), as well as to determine their frequency and clinical features.

Patients And Methods: We conducted a retrospective assessment of medical histories of NMO/NMOSD patients treated in 2 hospitals in Buenos Aires (Hospital Durand and Hospital Álvarez) between 2009 and 2013.

[Intraocular cilia with macular pucker: clinicopathologic correlation].

Purpose/methods: To report the pathological findings in a case of intravitreous cilia with macular pucker. We considered clinical factors to establish treatment. A pars plana vitrectomy and premacular membrane peeling were performed.

A new tool for measuring the suckling stimulus during breastfeeding in humans: the orokinetogram and the Fourier series.

The Fourier series was used to analyse the oral movements recorded by the orokinetogram during breastfeeding in human babies. This is a new method that allows recording of oral movements without introducing any extrinsic element between the nipple and the mouth of the baby. The advantage of displaying suckling activity after fast Fourier transform (FFT) is that this algorithm allows storage, quantification and frequency analysis of the oral movements throughout a suckling bout, which enables the total oral activity to be measured.