Subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator placement in a patient with a preexisting transvenous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator

A grant from the One-University Open Access Fund at the University of Kansas was used to defray the author's publication fees in this Open Access journal. The Open Access Fund, administered by librarians from the KU, KU Law, and KUMC libraries, is made possible by contributions from the offices of KU Provost, KU Vice Chancellor for Research & Graduate Studies, and KUMC Vice Chancellor for Research. For more information about the Open Access Fund, please see http://library.kumc.edu/authors-fund.xml

Occult Hepatitis B infection (OBI) in vaccinated groups, a metanalysis

Nowadays, the presence of HBV DNA in the absence of HBsAg; occult hepatitis B infection; (OBI), is a known clinical entity along with the rapid influx of research being conducted on its clinical relevance. Biologists and clinicians alike have a recent-standing interest in this regards. OBI has been described in several clinical settings. However, the data on its prevalence among immunized and non-immunized healthy general population, in particular, among health care workers (HCWs) is ambigous. This review attemps to explore the significance of OBI in vaccinated groups as a special subject. The prevalence of OBI among general population, vaccinated children/general population and health care workers were: 157 (5.2%), 222 (6.7%) and 33 (1.8%), respectively. The prevalence of anti-HBc among OBI-positive subjects were: 64 (40.7%), 133 (82.7%) and 27 (81.8%), respectively. OBI is partly prevalent in general population and in vaccinated individuals, especially in those who born to HBsAg positive mothers. HBV serological surveys are not enough adequate and sensitive to rule out the presence of HBV DNA. For high-risk groups (subjects born to HBsAg mothers, health care workers, isolated anti-HBc, etc) sensitive molecular tests based on real time PCR should be applied for a proper diagnosis

Evaluation of Glycated Albumin (GA) and GA/Hba1c Ratio for Diagnosis of Diabetes and Glycemic Control: A Comprehensive Review

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a group of metabolic diseases characterized by chronic high blood glucose concentrations (hyperglycemia). When it is left untreated or improperly managed, it can lead to acute complications including diabetic ketoacidosis and non-ketotic hyperosmolar coma. In addition, possible long-term complications include impotence, nerve damage, stroke, chronic kidney failure, cardiovascular disease, foot ulcers, and retinopathy. Historically, universal methods to measure glycemic control for the diagnosis of diabetes included fasting plasma glucose level (FPG), 2-h plasma glucose (2HP), and random plasma glucose. However, these measurements did not provide information about glycemic control over a long period of time. To address this problem, there has been a switch in the past decade to diagnosing diabetes and its severity through measurement of blood glycated proteins such as Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and glycated albumin (GA). Diagnosis and evaluation of diabetes using glycated proteins has many advantages including high accuracy of glycemic control over a period of time. Currently, common laboratory methods used to measure glycated proteins are high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), immunoassay, and electrophoresis. HbA1c is one of the most important diagnostic factors for diabetes. However, some reports indicate that HbA1c is not a suitable marker to determine glycemic control in all diabetic patients. GA, which is not influenced by changes in the lifespan of erythrocytes, is thought to be a good alternative indicator of glycemic control in diabetic patients. Here, we review the literature that has investigated the suitability of HbA1c, GA and GA:HbA1c as indicators of long-term glycemic control and demonstrate the importance of selecting the appropriate glycated protein based on the patient’s health status in order to provide useful and modern point-of-care monitoring and treatment

Clinical Performance of RT-PCR and Chest CT Scan for Covid-19 Diagnosis; A Systematic Review

Context: Due to their availability and rapid turnaround time, the supplemental role of chest computed tomography (CT) scan and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is growing for early diagnosis of patients with COVID-19. However, due to the low efficiency of viral nucleic acid detection as well as low specificity of chest CT scan for detecting COVID-19 pneumonia, both methods show incomplete clinical performance for proper COVID-19 disease diagnosis. The purpose of this review was to compare the clinical performance of two methods and to evaluate the diagnostic values of chest CT scan and RT-PCR for suspected COVID-19 patients. Evidence acquisition: We systemically searched PubMed, Cochrane, from December 2019 to the end of April 2020. Clinical research papers in goal fields that reviewed COVID-19 patients, whom chest CT scan, and PCR testing were performed together were included. Results: In total, we found 536 studies; and finally168 studies were shortlisted. Following title and abstract screening, we reached 83 studies based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Conducted screen by the full text covered 28 studies, which led to data extraction. By the full-text assessment of 28 included studies, we found 4486 assessed patients. Totally, 3164 patients had positive chest CT scans, and 3014 patients had positive PCR results. The finding showed that recent studies on the diagnostic performance of RT-PCR and chest CT scan have commonly been reported from China. Conclusion: The results from this review indicate that the chest CT scan should be used for symptomatic and hospitalized patients. Moreover, chest CT scan should not be used as a primary screening tool for diagnosing COVID-19. Application of RT-PCR as the first line diagnosis is still recommended

Visual Evoked Potential Findings in Patients with Dyslexia

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the Visual Evoked Potential (VEP) findings in patients with dyslexia and in normal individuals.Patients and Methods: In this case-control study, we evaluated 26 eyes from 13 dyslexic patients over the period of 2018-2022. The control group consisted of 26 eyes from 13 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals. VEP was recorded for both the case and control groups. We compared the latency (in milliseconds) and amplitude of the VEP P100 peak between the patients and the controls.Results: The mean latency of the VEP P100 peak was significantly higher in the patient group, measuring 108.92 ± 3.84 milliseconds, compared to 97.46 ± 2.8 milliseconds in the control group (P < 0.01). Additionally, the mean amplitude of the VEP, P100 peak in the case group was significantly lower, at 2.96 ± 1.12 microvolts, in contrast to 6.38 ± 1.6 microvolts observed in the control group (P < 0.01).Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, it is concluded that dyslexia may influence the visual pathway of the visual system, leading to changes that could potentially be evaluated using VEP testing

Sympathetic skin response in chronic renal failure patients

زمینه و هدف: نوروپاتی یورومیک یکی از شایع ترین عوارض نارسایی مزمن کلیوی است که علاوه بر اختلال سیستم عصبی سمپاتیک، نوروپاتی محیطی نیز اتفاق می افتد. تست پاسخ پوستی سمپاتیکی یک تست غیر تهاجمی و ســـاده جهت بررسی فعالیت غدد عرقی اکرین پوست در اثر تحریک سمپاتیکی می باشد. هدف از این مطالعه بررسی اختلال سیستم عصبی اتونوم در بیماران مبتلا به نارسایی کلیوی به وسیله تست SSR و مقایسه نتایج آن با علائم بالینی اتونومیک بود. مواد و روشها: در این مطالعه تست پاسخ پوستی سمپاتیکی بر روی 35 فرد سالم و 31 فرد بیمار مبتلا به نارسایـی مزمـن کلیـــوی که همودیالیزمنظم می شدند انجام شد. نتایج: پاسخ پوستی سمپاتیکی در12 فرد بیمار (7/38) محو ((Absent و در 23 فرد بیمار (74) غیر طبیعی بود. همبستگی خوبی بین تست پاسخ پوستی سمپاتیکی غیر طبیعی و علائم دیس اتونومیک بالینی مشاهده نشد ولی به نظر می رسد که در نارسایی مزمن کلیوی غیر طبیعی شدن پاسخ پوستی سمپاتیکی قبل از ظهور علائم بالینی دیس اتـــونومی رخ می دهـــد. سن، جنس،‌ طول مدت همودیالیز و طــــول تاریخچه نارسایی مزمن کلیوی بیمـــاران اثـــری روی پاسخ پوستـــی سمپاتیکی نداشت. ولی بــه نظر می رسد که تعــــداد دفعـــات دیالیز در هفتـــه روی پــــاسخ پوستی سمپاتیکی تأثیرگذار است. نتیجه گیری: می توان چنین نتیجه گرفت که در نارسایی مزمن کلیوی اختلال سیستم اتونومیکی محیطی شایع است و دیالیزکافی در بهبودی آن مؤثر می باشد.