Purpose

To identify the predictors of nadir serum creatinine (SCr) after drainage of bilaterally obstructed kidneys (BOKs) by different modes: double-J stent (JJ) versus percutaneous nephrostomy (PCN) and unilateral versus bilateral drainage.

Methods

A prospective non-randomized study was performed on patients with BOKs and raised SCr during December 2019–November 2021. Relevant variables were studied for improvement and non-improvement and for benign and malignant underlying obstructions (BUO and MUO).

Results

This study included 107 patients with BOKs including 68 (63.6%) males and 39 (36.4%) females. After drainage, 86 (80.4%) patients get improved, while 21 (19.6%) patients failed to reach a nadir SCr. Drainage by PCN was significantly higher in MUO, while JJ was significantly higher in BUO (p < 0.001). Also, bilateral drainage was a significant predictor of improvement in MUO (p …

Myocarditis is a highly heterogeneous disorder with a challenging diagnostic work-up. We aimed to focus on the possible diagnostic workup for this condition in settings where endomyocardial biopsy as a gold standard is not always feasible, detect the etiologic cardiotropic viruses in our locality, and follow the clinical course in patients admitted with clinically suspected myocarditis.

Methods

This is a prospective observational study. We recruited patients with clinically suspected myocarditis presenting at a university hospital from October 1st, 2020 until March 31st, 2021. All Patients had a diagnostic coronary angiography and were included only if they had a non-obstructive coronary artery disease. All patients also had cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) with contrast. Sera were obtained from all suspected patients for detection of antibodies against viruses using enzyme-linked immunosorbent 

Background

This study aimed to evaluate the Middle East (ME) countries' contribution to the Journal of Arthroplasty (JOA)’s publications in the past 20 years.

Methods

All articles published in JOA from 2000 to 2020 were evaluated for the contribution prevalence of ME countries’ authors, which were divided into category I, if all the authors were affiliated to ME institutions, and category II, if at least one coauthor affiliated to ME institutions was listed in the articles with other international authors.

Results

A total of 7837 original articles were evaluated. Authors affiliated with ME institutions contributed to 144 (1.8%) articles (148 individual country contributions) from ten (62.5%) out of a total of 16 ME countries. Sixty-eight articles (47.2%) were classified as category I; cooperation between different ME institutes (The authors were from two different ME countries.) was reported in two (1.4%) articles. The top five contributing …

Paraphenylenediamine (PPD) is a commonly used xenobiotic in hair dying, causing deleterious outcomes in acute poisoning. Although many epidemiological studies and case reports explained their clinical presentations and fatal consequences, no studies have evaluated the early determinants of adverse outcomes. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the initial predictors of acute PPD poisoning adverse outcomes, focusing on the discriminatory accuracy of the Rapid Emergency Medicine Score (REMS) and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score. A retrospective cohort study included all acute PPD-poisoned patients admitted to three Egyptian emergency hospitals from January 2020 to January 2022. Data was gathered on admission, including demographics, toxicological, clinical, scoring systems, and laboratory investigations. Patients were categorized according to their outcomes …

Background

The recent increase in dengue virus (DENV) outbreaks and the absence of an effective vaccine have highlighted the importance of developing rapid and effective diagnostic surveillance tests and mosquito-based screening programs. To establish effective control measures for preventing future DENV transmission, the present study was established to identify the main mosquito vector involved in the dengue fever (DF) outbreak in Upper Egypt in 2016 and detect the diversity of dengue virus serotypes circulating in both humans and vectors.

Methods

We investigated the prevalence of DENV infection and circulating serotypes in the sera of 51 humans clinically suspected of DF and 1800 field-collected Aedes aegypti adult female mosquitoes grouped into 36 pooled samples. Both DENV non-structural protein (NS1) immunochromatographic strip assay and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) were used for screening.

Results

Overall, the rate of DENV infection in both human sera and pooled mosquito homogenate was 33.3%, as revealed by rapid dipstick immunochromatographic analysis. However, higher detection rates were observed with RT-LAMP assay of 60.8% and 44.4% for humans and vector mosquitoes, respectively. DENV-1 was the most prevalent serotype in both populations. A combination of two, three, or even four circulating serotypes was found in 87.5% of total positive pooled mosquito samples and 83.87% of DENV-positive human sera.

Conclusion

The study reinforces the evidence of the reemergence of Aedes aegypti in Upper Egypt, inducing an outbreak of DENV. Mosquito-based surveillance of …

Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) are important cause of mortality in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients on treatment with intensive induction chemotherapy. Toll-like receptors, mainly Toll-like receptors 2 and 4 (TLR2 and TLR4), play a considerable role in the host defense against microorganisms. The involvement of TLR signaling in modulation of innate immune response is extensively discussed, but the TLR expressions profiling on adaptive immune cells are not specified. Also, the expressions of TLRs and their association with the occurrence of IFIs in patients with AML are not studied. So, the novel aim of this study was to investigate the associations between the T-lymphocyte expression of TLR2 and TLR4 and the occurrence of IFIs in AML patients treated with intensive induction chemotherapy.