Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction in Takotsubo syndrome with cardiogenic shock: prognosis and treatment.

Background: Patients with Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) who develop cardiogenic shock may present with left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO). The prognosis and treatment of this population have not been defined in previous studies. The aim of this study is to describe the clinical presentation, management, evolution and prognosis of a subgroup of patients with TTS and cardiogenic shock according to whether they present with LVOTO or not.

Total intravenous anaesthesia in rural sub-Saharan Africa: report of 25 cases.

Total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) is a potential solution for safe and effective anesthesia administration in rural regions of sub-Saharan Africa, where access to inhalational anesthesia may be limited. However, challenges such as equipment and medication availability, as well as a shortage of trained anesthesiologists, can limit the use of TIVA. In this study, the safety and efficacy of TIVA were evaluated in a case series of 25 female patients undergoing thyroid surgery in a rural area of sub-Saharan Africa.

Home care/outpatient versus hospital admission in mild acute pancreatitis: protocol of a multicentre, randomised controlled trial (PADI_2 trial).

Introduction: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is the third most common gastrointestinal disease resulting in hospital admission, with over 70% of AP admissions being mild cases. In the USA, it costs 2.5 billion dollars annually.

Long-term follow-up of certolizumab pegol in uveitis due to immune-mediated inflammatory diseases: multicentre study of 80 patients.

Objectives: To evaluate effectiveness and safety of certolizumab pegol (CZP) in uveitis due to immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID).

Methods: Multicentre study of CZP-treated patients with IMID uveitis refractory to conventional immunosuppressant. Effectiveness was assessed through the following ocular parameters: best-corrected visual acuity, anterior chamber cells, vitritis, macular thickness and retinal vasculitis.

Changes in fatty acid levels (saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated) during pregnancy.

Background: During pregnancy a high amount of fatty acids (FA) is necessary to meet foetus demands, which vary during gestation. The present study describes the changes in maternal fatty acid concentrations during pregnancy in a sample of pregnant women.

Methods: This is a longitudinal study of 479 pregnant women who were monitored from the first trimester to third trimester of pregnancy.

False-seronegative HCV infection motivated by interference with cryoglobulins.

Objectives: Cryoglobulins (CGs) are serum proteins that undergo a reverse cold-induced precipitation . The CGs are a well-known cause of analytical interferences in several laboratory tests, leading to spurious results. With this in view, we present a case of a patient initially misdiagnosed due to CGs interference in Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) serology.

Use of predictive tools in the management of COVID-19 patients: a key role of clinical laboratories.

Objectives: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is widely spreading and represents a critical threat to global health. In the fight against this pandemic, provincial hospitals urgently need rapid diagnostic of COVID-19 infected patients to avoid collapsing of emergency units. However, the high demand of patients with severe acute respiratory symptoms limits the fast delivery of results by the gold standard method reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction real time (rRT-PCR) for the identification of COVID-19 positive pneumonia.

New haematologic score to discriminate beta thalassemia trait from iron deficiency anaemia in a Spanish Mediterranean region.

Several studies have stablished discriminant formulas (DF) from red blood cell (RBC) data as simple, low time-consuming and inexpensive tools to differentiate β-thalassemia trait (β-TT) from iron deficiency anaemia (IDA). The aim of this work is to introduce new formulas and evaluate them in the differentiation of microcytic anaemia (MA) into either β-TT or IDA in the Mediterranean region of Tarragona. A total of 200 anonymized haematological determinations with MA were collected, 100 diagnosed of β-TT and 100 diagnosed of IDA.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation in newborn infants with ultrasound in the delivery room.

Point of care ultrasound has emerged as useful tool in cardiac arrest situations in adult population. Despite of these, there is not a protocol for cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the delivery room for newborns. We describe two case were ultrasound helped to rule out the cardiopulmonary arrest case and we propose and algorithm were ultrasound is integrated in the newborn resuscitation and may help to diagnose the cardiac arrest cause.

Lung ultrasound in the follow-up of primary ciliary dyskinesia.

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is an airways ciliary defect, making them unable to beat normally. Hence, there is an increase in the incidence of respiratory recurrent infections leading to multiple atelectasis from different lung lobes during the first months of life repeat chest X-ray (CXR) controls with increase of radiation exposure in this younger population. We report the lung ultrasound follow-up of two newborn diagnosed with PCD.