Spontaneous Pneumothorax and Pneumomediastinum Following COVID-19

Background: Pneumomediastinum and pneumothorax are usually rare conditions after pneumonia. This study examines the progress of pneumonia of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to spontaneous pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum in a patient. Case Presentation: The patient was a 40-year-old man who complained of nonproductive cough and dyspnea. He also complained of fever, sore throat, back, and chest pain. The patient used to smoke but now he quit .His O2 saturation was 89% at the time of admission. He was assessed with suspicion of COVID-19. CT scans of the chest showed brief changes of emphysema and a ground glass view was also seen in the lungs. In the patient’s tests, RT-PCR testing of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was performed and it was positive. Treatment was initiated and because of the progression of symptoms, the serial CT scanning of the patient’s lungs was performed daily; and cavitary changes, air-fluid appearance, and destructive changes of lungs were reported. After eight days, the patient’s cough worsened. CT scans of the patient’s lungs showed some bullaes, pneumothorax, and pneumomediastinum, thus a chest tube was inserted and oxygen therapy was begun on the patient with 3-6 L/min. After 5 days in CT, the patient was relieved of pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum and after a week, the chest tube came out. Conclusion: Pulmonary lesions of COVID 19 can progress to bullae, pneumomediastinum, and pneumothorax. Deterioration of dyspnea and respiratory symptoms can be a warning of pneumomediastinum and pneumothorax that can be confirmed by graphics and timely treatment of the patient can be life-saving

Evaluation of the Effect of Combination Therapy on Treatment of COVID-19: A Cohort Study

Background: COVID-19 is a new disease for which a definitive treatment has not yet been proposed. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the effect of combination therapy on the treatment of COVID-19 due to the importance of finding an appropriate treatment for this epidemic disease. Methods: This two-center cohort study included 175 confirmed COVID-19 inpatients at two medical centers designated for the treatment of COVID-19 patients in Qom and Qazvin, Iran. In this study, four different groups of drug regimens were studied which included G1 (azithromycin, prednisolone, and naproxen), G2 (lopinavir/ritonavir, azithromycin, naproxen, and prednisolone), G3 (hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, naproxen, and prednisolone), and G4 (levofloxacin, vancomycin, hydroxychloroquine, and oseltamivir). It should be noted that G1, G2, G3, and G4 treatment regimens were used on 48, 39,30, and 77 patients, respectively. Results: The study participants included 175 confirmed COVID-19 patients with mean±SD age of 58.9 ±15.1 years, out of whom 80 (46%) patients were male and the rest were females. The results indicated that the hospital stay period was significantly shorter in the G1 compared to other groups (G1:5.9±2.4, G2:8.1±4.2, G3: 6.3±1.7, and G4: 6.4±2.9; [P-value=0.008]). It should be noted that pulse rate, oxygen saturation, hemoglobin, and platelet count (PLT) changed significantly during the study in four treatment groups; however, a significant change in temperature, creatinine, and white blood cell (WBC) was observed only in G3, G4, and G1 groups, respectively. The number of ICU admissions and deaths were not statistically significant among the patients who received the four treatment regimens (P=0.785). Based on the results, the history of ischemic heart disease, baseline oxygen saturation, WBC, neutrophil, lymphocyte count, and C-reactive protein (CRP) are the risk factors for the prolonged hospital stay in COVID-19 patients. Conclusion: The obtained results in this study indicated that the combination of azithromycin, prednisolone, and naproxen is the most effective regimen for the treatment of COVID-19, compared to three other combination treatment regimens. Keywords: Anti-inflammatory drugs, Antiviral drugs, Combination therapy, Corticosteroid, COVID-19, Immunomodulators drug

The Relationship between Perceived Sleep Quality, Polysomnographic Measures and Depressive Symptoms in Chemically-Injured Veterans: A Pilot Study.

Objective: Sleep complaints are common among Iranian chemically-injured veterans. The growing body of research has investigated (in) equalities between such subjective complaints and objective sleep records. Moreover, sleep complaints are associated with depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms, also, have been frequently reported in chemically-injured veterans. Therefore, the purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the relationship between perceived sleep quality, polysomnographic measures and depressive symptoms in Iranian veterans with chemical injuries. Methods: In this pilot study, 35 Iranian veterans with chemical injuries complaining of a sleep problem were selected. Initially, participants were evaluated via all-night polysomnography, then, they completed the research questionnaires. Collected data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients. Results: Data analyses showed that there was no significant correlation between many of self-reposted variables and polysomnogaphic recordings, h wever, remarkable relationships were found between the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Beck Depression Inventory scores. Conclusion: The findings indicated that sleep complaints of chemically-injured veterans are not equivalent to objective sleep disturbances, however, these complaints are largely associated with level of depression. This study emphasizes the important role of mood in sleep evaluation. Further, the findings suggest using a combination of both subjective and objective measures for accurate assessment of sleep quality in Iranian veterans with chemical injuries (i.e., multimethod approach)

Comparative Network Analysis of Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Smokers for Representing Potential Therapeutic Targets

Abstract Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer worldwide. In this study, we evaluated the serum autoantibody (AAb) repertoires of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and smokers (SM), leading to the identification of overactivated pathways and hubs involved in the pathogenesis of NSCLC. Surface- and solution-phase biopanning were performed on immunoglobulin G purified from the sera of NSCLC and SM groups. In total, 20 NSCLC- and 12 SM-specific peptides were detected, which were used to generate NSCLC and SM protein datasets. NSCLC- and SM-related proteins were visualized using STRING and Gephi, and their modules were analyzed using Enrichr. By integrating the overrepresented pathways such as pathways in cancer, epithelial growth factor receptor, c-Met, interleukin-4 (IL-4) and IL-6 signaling pathways, along with a set of proteins (e.g. phospholipase D (PLD), IL-4 receptor, IL-17 receptor, laminins, collagens, and mucins) into the PLD pathway and inflammatory cytokines network as the most critical events in both groups, two super networks were made to elucidate new aspects of NSCLC pathogenesis and to determine the influence of cigarette smoking on tumour formation. Taken together, assessment of the AAb repertoires using a systems biology approach can delineate the hidden events involved in various disorders