Vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia following AstraZeneca (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19) vaccine: report of two cases

Vaccination with ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 can result in vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT). This phenomenon mimics heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, yet it does not require heparin as a trigger. This case report highlights the potentially lifethreatening complication associated with ChAdOx1 nCov-19 vaccine, clinical presentation, diagnostic approach, and treatment. We report two cases of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia after receiving the first dose of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine. We attribute these thrombotic conditions to the vaccine due to the remarkable temporal relationship. The proposed mechanism of VITT is a production of antibodies against platelet factor-4 resulting in massive platelet activation. Healthcare providers should be aware of the possibility of such a fatal complication, and the vaccine recipients should be warned about the symptoms of VITT

Feasibility and safety of electrochemotherapy (ECT) in the pancreas: a pre-clinical investigation

Background. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal disease generally refractory to standard chemotherapeutic agents; therefore improvements in anticancer therapies are mandatory. A major determinant of therapeutic resistance in PDAC is the poor drug delivery to neoplastic cells, mainly due to an extensive fibrotic reaction. Electroporation can be used in vivo to increase cancer cells’ local uptake of chemotherapeutics (electrochemotherapy, ECT), thus leading to an enhanced tumour response rate. In the present study, we evaluated the in vivo effects of reversible electroporation in normal pancreas in a rabbit experimental model. We also tested the effect of electroporation on pancreatic cancer cell lines in order to evaluate their increased sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents