Pulmonary embolism in pregnancy with COVID-19 infection: A case report

Pregnant women in the third trimester are at the highest risk. Contracting COVID-19 increases the complications. Hence, it is critical for pregnant women, especially during the third trimester, with slightest COVID-19 symptoms to visit as soon as possible. Early diagnosis considerably contributes to saving both the mother and the fetus. © 2020 The Authors. Clinical Case Reports published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

The outcome of olfactory impairment in patients with otherwise paucisymptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 during the pandemic

Objective This study aimed to measure the duration and recovery rate of olfactory loss in patients complaining of recent smell loss as their prominent symptom during the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak. Method This was a prospective telephone follow-up observational study of 243 participants who completed an online survey that started on 12 March 2020. Results After a mean of 5.5 months from the loss of smell onset, 98.3 per cent of participants reported improvement with a 71.2 per cent complete recovery rate after a median of 21 days. The chance of complete recovery significantly decreased after 131 days from the onset of loss of smell (100 per cent sensitive and 97.7 per cent specific). Younger age and isolated smell loss were associated with a rapid recovery, whereas accompanying rhinological and gastrointestinal symptoms were associated with longer loss of smell duration. Conclusion Smell loss, occurring as a prominent symptom during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, showed a favourable outcome. However, after 5.5 months from the onset, around 10 per cent of participants still complained of moderate or severe hyposmia. Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Evaluation of the effect of endoscopic partial middle-turbinectomy surgery on the quality of life of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis and nasal polyps

Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a common chronic inflammatory disease. Endoscopic sinus surgery is recommended as a standard method when medical treatment fails. The effectiveness of various complementary surgical methods such as endoscopic partial middle-turbinectomy is controversial in the improvement of CRS symptoms in these patients. This study aimed to investigate the effect of endoscopic partial middle-turbinectomy on the quality of life (QOL) of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis and nasal polyps (CRSwNP) in Iran. Method: Ninety patients with CRSwNP of grades 3 and 4 were randomly assigned to either an intervention (45 patients) or control group (45 patients). In the control group, endoscopic sinus surgery without middle turbinectomy was performed and in the intervention group, endoscopic partial middle-turbinectomy was performed in addition to endoscopic sinus surgery. To evaluate the outcomes, the SNOT-22 QOL questionnaire was used, and the results were analyzed using SPSS version 24. Results: Most of the patients were male and had a mean age of 39 years. The mean SNOT-22 QOL questionnaire scores were 49.13±16.72 and 52.51±16.95 before surgery in the control and intervention groups respectively, which did not show any significant difference. In contrast, after endoscopic surgery these scores changed to 28.46±12.38 and 11.13±5.55 in the control and intervention groups, respectively< and there was a significant difference between both groups. Although there was a significant improvement in both groups, the patients in the intervention group experienced more improvement than the control group (41.4 (±16.46) vs 30.7 (±18.27), respectively Conclusion: According to this study, it appears that the use of endoscopic partial middle-turbinectomy in addition to endoscopic sinus surgery improves CRS symptoms and the QOL of patients compared with endoscopic sinus surgery alone. © 2020, International Rhinologic Society. All rights reserved