Characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19-Puerto Rico, March-August 2020.

Hispanics are the majority ethnic population in Puerto Rico where we reviewed charts of 109 hospitalized COVID-19 patients to better understand demographic and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 and determine risk factors for poor outcomes. Eligible medical records of hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 illnesses were reviewed at four participating hospitals in population centers across Puerto Rico and data were abstracted that described the clinical course, interventions, and outcomes. We found hospitalized patients had a median of 3 underlying conditions with obesity and diabetes as the most frequently reported conditions.

Levels of soluble TREM-like transcript 1 in patients presenting to the emergency department with chest pain.

Objective: Recent studies suggest that the soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-like transcript 1 (sTLT-1) facilitate atherothrombosis. Therefore, we evaluated sTLT-1 as a functional measure of atherothrombosis in acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Methods: Levels of sTLT-1 were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay on plasma from patients with potential ACS and compared with an age-matched control group with similar risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Food Safety Knowledge, Beliefs and Behavior of Persons with AIDS: A Multicenter Study.

Persons living with AIDS are highly vulnerable to foodborne enteric infections including recurrent septicemia and toxoplasmosis of the brain with the potential for substantial morbidity and mortality. Patients with immunologic AIDS in Chicago, New Orleans, and Bayamon were interviewed to determine gaps in food safety knowledge and prevalence of related behaviors in order to create targeted educational material for this population. A food safety score was calculated based on responses to 40 knowledge, belief, and behavior questions.

Thyrotoxic hypokalemic periodic paralysis is a rare but potentially fatal emergency: case report and literature review.

We report a case of a 39 year-old Asian man in whom profound lower limb paralysis, along with severe hypokalemia and electrocardiographic changes, were the presenting features of Graves' disease (GD)-related thyrotoxicosis. Rapid recognition and management of the disorder were the key factors to avoid fatal hypokalemia-induced cardiac arrhythmias and promptly restore patient's capacity to ambulate.

Hopeful waiting: positive outcome of blood pressure monitoring in an emergency department.

Unlabelled: Hospitals use a triage system in which health care staff sort's patients into groups. During the long waiting periods after triage, inadvertence of patient's clinical deterioration may occur.

Objectives: To determine whether vital signs and oxygen saturation monitoring and reassessment of medical priority during the waiting period had a positive impact on the clinical outcome of apparently non-critical patients.

Cytomegalovirus as a trigger for systemic lupus erythematosus.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections have been associated with exacerbations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Their role in triggering this disease, however, remains a subject of debate. We present a 43-year-old man with no history of systemic illness who developed persistent signs and symptoms of a CMV-associated mononucleosis-like syndrome while fulfilling diagnostic criteria for previously undiagnosed SLE.

A survey of parental knowledge about car seats in children.

Motor vehicle accidents are the main cause of death and disability between 1 and 4 years of age. Since 1980 the Academy of Pediatrics has been promoting the correct use of car seats. The major reason that car seats are not fulfilling their full potential is their incorrect or lack of use.

Holoprosencephaly with proboscis.

This is the case of a male newborn with holoprosencephaly, marked hypotelorism, and a rudimentary nasal structure, the proboscis. The head CT scan showed a single monoventricle and two ocular globes fused at the midline. Chromosome studies showed a normal karyotype.

Adolescent student's compliance with testicular self examination.

To determine what adolescents students know or feel about testicular cancer, (TC) and the testicular self examination, (TSE), technique, 127 males students (mean age 16.14 years) were given a 21 item questionnaire. The role of the primary physician and the role of written and visual educational material were assessed for effectiveness in increasing the regular performance of monthly testicular self examination by male students at a Health Education Course at Cervantes Public School at Bayamón, P.

Value of performing a chest radiograph in patients with diagnosis of "clinical sepsis".

In any infant admitted with diagnosis of "clinical sepsis", a chest radiograph is commonly obtained as a routine work-up. The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between an abnormal chest radiograph and "clinical sepsis" in a population of infants. The clinical records and chest radiographs of 81 infants, (less than 3 month old) were reviewed.

Congenital (prepyloric) antral membrane: prenatal diagnosis and treatment.

Congenital antral membrane is a rare cause of gastric outlet obstruction. Symptoms can be seen in any age group, depending on the degree of obstruction caused. Treatment options are pyloroplasty with incision or excision, endoscopic dilatation or resection, and medical management.

Adult paratesticular tumors: report of two cases.

Paratesticular tumors are uncommon tumors, most being found incidentally at autopsy. The most common benign paratesticular tumor is the adenomatoid tumor. A somewhat less frequent benign paratesticular tumor, papillary cystadenoma, accounts for approximately 33 percent of all the primary epididymal tumors and is frequently seen in patients with Von Hippel-Lindau disease.

Colorectal carcinoma: a pathologic and immunopathologic study.

Lewis-related blood group antigens are carbohydrate determinants carried on surface glycoproteins and glycolipids of erythrocytes and some epithelial cells. Their expressions in colorectal mucosa has been considered either as a marker of differentiation antigens or of tumor associated antigens. We prospectively studied Lewis-related blood group antigens in patients undergoing colectomy for colonic adenocarcinoma.

Pathology of pulmonary hypertension and schistosomiasis mansoni.

We report a case of a 33-year-old woman with grade IV pulmonary hypertension and end stage cor pulmonale secondary to chronic schistosomiasis (bilharziasis). The pathophysiology and morphologic features are discussed. Schistosomiasis is an important etiology to consider in the differential diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension.

Hypercholesterolemia in children.

Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in Puerto Rico. Enough evidence exists to believe that coronary heart disease begins during the pediatric age. There has been and increased interest in recent years about the rationale for detection and treatment of hypercholesterolemia in children.

Attitudes and knowledge toward bicycle helmet by school age children.

Approximately 600 children under the age of 15 years, die each year in bicycle-related accidents. Over 80% of these deaths involve trauma to the head. Almost one fourth of all significant brain injuries in children are bicycle related.

Prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity in insulin dependent diabetes mellitus in the Bayamon region.

The purpose of this study was to describe our experience in the Bayamon region with respect to the prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity in our pediatric diabetic population. We identified a total of 78 patients with IDDM and all were examined to ascertain the presence of goiter. Thyroid profile, free thyroxine, thyrotropin, and thyroid microsomal autoantibodies were measured by radioimmunoassay in 65 of these patients.

Cocaine and rhabdomyolysis: report of a case and review of the literature.

Cocaine abuse is associated with a constellation of serious medical complications. An unrecognized and recently described complication of cocaine use is rhabdomyolysis with acute renal failure. We describe the first patient identified in our institution with this entity, admitted to the medical services with oliguric acute renal failure.

Organophosphate poisoning.

Organophosphate compounds insecticides are the most commonly associated with serious human toxicity. We reviewed the adult cases of organophosphate poisoning seen at HURRA from January 1986 to January 1990. We had 14 cases, all male patients.

Squamous cell carcinoma of the penis.

Squamous cell carcinoma of the penis (CA Penis) is not a rare disease in P.R. We have reviewed all cases of CA penis diagnosed in our institution from Jan.

Prognostic factors in patients with IVDA and bacteremia.

The medical records of all the patients with bacteremia and recent use of illicit intravenous drugs admitted to Hospital Universitario Ramón Ruíz Arnau from January 1, 1988 to June 30, 1989 were reviewed. It consisted of 28 records, 21 of which were male patients and 7 females. The mortality rate among these patients was 46%.