Sahar Ravanshad; Marieh Alizadeh; Aida Bakhshi; Sepideh Hejazi; Mina AkbariRad; Hassan Mehrad-Majd
Abstract
Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the necessity of investigating the relationship between radiological and laboratory findings with disease outcome in COVID-19 patients. This study aimed to explore the association between CT-scan finding and laboratory results with disease outcome, ...
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Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the necessity of investigating the relationship between radiological and laboratory findings with disease outcome in COVID-19 patients. This study aimed to explore the association between CT-scan finding and laboratory results with disease outcome, including recovery without complications, ICU admission, or mortality.Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study analyzed medical records and laboratory data from COVID-19 patients at our institution from September 2020 onwards. All demographic, laboratory findings, as well as CT-scan data such as ground-glass opacity, consolidation, pleural effusion, cardiomegaly, mediastinal lymphadenopathy, and pulmonary involvement score at admission were collected. Patients were categorized based on outcome status and compared for all study variables. Results: Significance differences were observed for CT-score values between deceased patients and those who recovered (P<0.001), indicating a more severe lung changes in patients who died due to COVID-19. Additionally ICU-admitted patients had higher likelihood of underlying comorbidities and elevated CT-score levels. Laboratory markers such as ESR, Ferritin, LDH, Neutrophil count, and RDW were significantly higher in patients requiring ICU admission (P<0.05). Deceased patients were more likely to have underlying diseases, ground glass opacity, cardiomegaly, and higher CT-scores. Laboratory markers such as ESR, CRP, Ferritin, LDH, and others were also significantly higher in expired patients.Conclusion: There was a strong association between laboratory and CT-scan findings with disease outcomes in COVID-19 patients. The combination of laboratory markers and CT-scan findings can serve as robust predictors of disease outcomes. Further studies are needed to validate these findings in larger cohorts.
Sepideh Hejazi; Sahar Ravanshad; Samaneh Sajjadi
Abstract
Lung cancer is among the most common types of cancer with considerable mortality and morbidity around the globe. There are various risk factors involved in the development of lung cancer, and cancer prevention plans are mainly based on controlling the modifiable risk factors. While tobacco smoking is ...
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Lung cancer is among the most common types of cancer with considerable mortality and morbidity around the globe. There are various risk factors involved in the development of lung cancer, and cancer prevention plans are mainly based on controlling the modifiable risk factors. While tobacco smoking is considered the main modifiable risk factor of lung cancer, some other modifiable factors including diet have become the center of attention in recent years. Although tobacco smoking control is one of the main strategies for preventing lung cancer in many countries, it has been discussed that eating a healthy diet can also be an adjuvant strategy for reducing the risk of developing lung cancer. In the present narrative review, we did a literature search for studies that addressed the effect of the Mediterranean diet on the development of lung cancer. Our findings show that different types of Mediterranean diets could be beneficial for reducing the risk of developing lung cancer.
Samaneh Sajjadi; Sepideh Hejazi; Ghazaleh Azami; Mina Akbari; Fatemeh Akbari
Abstract
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by the mean pulmonary artery pressure of more than 25 mmHg and pulmonary artery wedge pressure of less than 15 mmHg evidenced by right-heart catheterization. In the classification of PAH, some subgroups are defined as primary or secondary PAH based ...
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Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by the mean pulmonary artery pressure of more than 25 mmHg and pulmonary artery wedge pressure of less than 15 mmHg evidenced by right-heart catheterization. In the classification of PAH, some subgroups are defined as primary or secondary PAH based on the underlying etiologies of the disease. Early episodes of PAH have been reported to occur at younger ages and in women in idiopathic or familial forms with the survival rate of 1-3 years. According to recent registries, the affected patients are older and have better survival rates. Some of the key elements in the pathophysiology of PAH include intima and media proliferation, vascular remodeling, and blood coagulation, which could increase the defiance of pulmonary vascularity, so that the cellular and molecular pathways would be able to induce PAH through specific mechanisms. Although no pathognomonic signs and symptoms have been reported in the literature, the most prominent manifestations of PAH are associated with disorders such as heart failure. Currently, PAH is known as a severe and occasionally life-threatening multifactorial clinical condition. Considering endothelial dysfunction, vasoconstriction, inflammatory reactions, and platelet aggregation as the main pathophysiological arms of the disease, specific treatment approaches have been proposed to inhibit these manifestations. These methods result in the effective treatment response, as well as the proper early and late outcomes of PAH. Due to the high incidence of cardiovascular diseases and the associated progressive life-threatening conditions, such as heart failure and PAH in the Iranian population, identification of the etiological, pathophysiological, diagnostic, and novel therapeutic approaches for PAH is essential to the proper management of this clinical condition.