Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

Role of mangroves as a nursery ground for juvenile reef fishes in the southern Egyptian Red Sea

This work aims to study the importance of mangrove area as nursery grounds for the juvenile of reef fishes in the Red Sea. Juvenile fishes were collected during three seasons in 2010 from three mangrove swamps by a beach seine net. The net was dragged on the bottom for 100 m three times. A total of 269 juvenile fishes were collected, representing 21 species in 19 families. The most abundant species formed about 86% of all collected fishes. Nine species were collected for the first time from mangrove areas in the Egyptian Red Sea. Most of the collected fishes are economically important fishes. Moreover, eleven families were belonging to coral reef fishes. The highest species richness value was recorded in Hamata mangroves. This finding showed that how mangroves could support the life history of many coral reef fishes

Rare Tumors 2010; volume 2:e11 Primary mediastinal Castleman’s disease

Castleman’s disease is a rare entity with an unknown etiology which was first described by Castleman in 1954. It is a lymphoproliferative disorder histologically classified into three types; hyaline-vascular, plasma cell type and mixed type. It might be localized or multicentric and usually involves the mediastinum. We report a case of Castleman’s disease discovered accidentally in a case of blunt chest trauma which caused a challenging diagnostic process and management. Case Report A 39-year old man presented to the ER with progressive dyspnea and cough for the last si

Substernal Thyroid Masses

A thyroid mass, most often a non toxic colloid goiter or occasionally an adenoma, is not an unusual finding below the level of the thoracic inlet.1 In 1992 Creswell and Wells estimated that these tumors comprise 5.8% of all mediastinal lesions.1 There is no standard definition for thyroid glands extending below the thoracic inlet, but such masses descend from their original cervical location for more than 2 or 3 cm below the thoracic inlet, and are not truly primary tumors of the mediastinum. They preserve the connection between the thoracic and cervical portion and receive their blood supply from the neck.2,3 In 1940, the seminal report of Wakeley and Mulvany divided intrathoracic thyroid masses into 3 types; (1)”Small substernal extension” of a mainly cervical mass, (2) “Partial” intrathoracic, in which the major portion of the mass is situated within the thorax, and (3)”Complete” in which all of the mass lies within the thoracic cavity