Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders among General and Technical Secondary School Students in Egypt.

(1) Background: Children spend a lot of time within schools. The school setting generally has many ergonomic hazards and reinforced behavior patterns which put children at greater risk of environmental hazards than adults during their critical developmental stages. (2) Objective: The aim of the current study was to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and detect spinal deformities amongst general and technical secondary school students. (3) Methods: A total of 418 students from the second grade of secondary school in Shaquira governorate, Egypt participated in this cross-sectional study. Each student in the study was screened via Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) and had their upper limb posture measured via RULA (Rapid Upper Limb assessment), and the deviation in their thoracic curve was measured using a scoliometer. (4) Results: There was a prevalence of MSDs amongst students as there were 69.7% of general school students and 83.8% of the technical school students suffering from MSDs with a statistically significant difference between both technical and general school students in RULA score and musculoskeletal complaints, whereas there were non-statistical differences in the scoliometer scale in both general and technical education students. (5) Conclusions: Musculoskeletal problems are prevalent among Egyptian secondary school students, with higher prevalence between technical school students. Therefore, preventive measures and strategies are recommended to overcome the future complications of these musculoskeletal disorders.

Unusual pattern of thrombotic events in young adult non-critically ill patients with COVID-19 may result from an undiagnosed inherited and acquired form of thrombophilia.

In 145 previously healthy non-critically ill young adults, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related symptoms, risk factors for thrombosis, coagulation and inflammatory parameters were compared, with 29 patients reporting unusual thrombotic events (UTEs) and 116 not having thrombotic events. The inflammatory indices, coagulation and prothrombotic platelet phenotype (PTPP) were significantly higher in patients with UTEs versus those without. Patients with UTEs were categorised according to detection of thrombophilic genes (TGs), coagulation and inflammatory markers to the non-TG and TG subcohort. A total of 38 UTEs were identified, which included splanchnic vein thrombosis (SVT; 11), stroke (six), cerebral vein thrombosis (five), thrombotic microangiopathy (four), limb ischaemia and inferior vena cava thrombosis (three each), ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (two), superior vena cava thrombosis (two), upper limb deep venous thrombosis and retinal vein thrombosis, one each. We found a 55% prevalence of TGs mainly heterozygous coagulation factor II, thrombin (FII)-G20210A, Janus kinase 2 (JAK2)-V617F, protein-S, and antithrombin III deficiency with a high (76·9%) prevalence of venous UTEs, multiple vessels thrombosis, and recurrence rate among the TG versus non-TG subcohort. The presence of JAK2-V617F, and FII-G20210A mutations was linked with SVT. Thrombosis in the non-TG subcohort was associated with more haemorrhagic problems, thrombosis progression and a significantly higher level of inflammatory markers, PTPP, mean platelet volume, von Willebrand factor, and factor VIII, which remained high for up to 6 months, as well as elevated D-dimer. Acquired and inherited thrombophilia with endotheliopathy appeared to be a relevant mechanism to explain the occurrence of UTEs that are not correlated to COVID-19 severity.

Is insufficient pulmonary air support the cause of dysphonia in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?

OBJECTIVE: Optimal pulmonary air support is essential pre-requisite for efficient phonation. The objective is to correlate pulmonary and vocal functions in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to find out whether the reduced pulmonary function per se could induce dysphonia. METHODS: In this prospective case-control study, sixty subjects with stable COPD underwent evaluation of pulmonary and vocal functions. The pulmonary functions measured include {Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), FEV1/FVC ratio, peak expiratory flow (PEF), maximum mid-expiratory flow (MMEF)}. The vocal functions were {jitter, shimmer, noise-to-harmonic ratio, pitch perturbation quotient, amplitude perturbation quotient, maximum phonation time (MPT), sound pressure level, phonatory efficiency, resistance and power. A control group (n=35) underwent the same measurements. These functions were compared between subjects and controls. Also, correlation of the vocal and pulmonary functions was conducted. RESULTS: Thirty five (58.3%) of COPD subjects have dysphonia. The pulmonary functions were lower in all COPD group than in the control group (P<0.001 for all parameters). Also, the FVC, FEV1, PEF and MMEF % of predicted values were significantly lower in subjects with dysphonia (n=35) than those without dysphonia (n=25) with P values 0.0018, <0.001, 0.0011 and 0.0026 respectively. In addition, the MPT in all subjects showed positive correlations to the 5 pulmonary functions (P=0.004 for FEV1/FVC ratio and P<0.001 for the rest). Also, the phonatory efficiency showed significant positive correlations with the pulmonary functions FVC, FEV1, PEF and MMEF (P=0.001, 0.001, 0.002 and 0.001 respectively). Unlike efficiency, the phonatory resistance revealed significant negative correlations with these pulmonary functions in the same order (P=0.001, 0.003, 0.002, 0.001 respectively). CONCLUSION: Dysphonia is a common comorbidity with COPD which attributed to multifactorial etiologies. The lower the pulmonary function in COPD patients is the more likely to have dysphonia. Decreased pulmonary function was associated with reduced MPT and phonatory efficiency but with increased phonatory resistance. The reduced pulmonary functions in COPD can be the underlying cause of the altered vocal function and dysphonia. Great part of this dysphonia is functional, and hence, can be corrected by voice therapy in compensated subjects. Further researches are needed to evaluate the efficacy of voice therapy in these patients.

Surgical complications of cochlear implantation in a tertiary university hospital.

INTRODUCTION: Cochlear implantation remains a popular and effective therapy for patients with sensorineural hearing loss that not get benefit from conventional hearing aids Objective: To analyze the surgical complications obtained in patients that underwent cochlear implantation in a tertiary university hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of the medical files of cochlear implant patients who underwent surgery at our institution between October 2014 and July 2016. This population comprised 163 patients (52.7% males and 47.3% females). Complications were classified in to 'major' and 'minor' complications depending on degree of management. RESULTS: Overall, the mean age at the time of implantation was 7.44 years. The cause of deafness was congenital in 81.6% of patients and acquired in 18.4% of patients. The overall complication rate was 10.43%, 3.68% being major and 6.75% being minor complications. The most common minor complication in our series was wound complications, and the most common major complication was device failure. Excluding device failures, the major complication rate was 1.84%. CONCLUSION: Cochlear implantation is a safe surgical technique for rehabilitation of patients with severe to profound hearing loss, associated with a low surgical complications rate. The majority of surgical complications can be managed with conservative measures or minimal intervention.

Alterations of p53 and Bcl-2 protein expression in the recurrent laryngeal and pharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Identification of molecular events of the recurrent squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the larynx and pharynx may aid in refining treatment strategies and improving outcome. The underlying molecular events of these recurrent tumors involve alterations in the tumor suppressor genes (p53) and protooncogenes (Bcl-2). We hypothesize that the development of these recurrent tumors involves alterations of the p53 and Bcl-2 proteins. METHODS: To test this hypothesis, 15 laryngeal and pharyngeal biopsy specimens obtained from 15 patients with recurrent laryngeal or pharyngeal SCC with different grades (II-IV) were immunostained for p53 and Bcl-2 protein expression. RESULTS: Examination of the percentage of positive cells in the normal mucosa and SCC, respectively, showed significant up-regulation of p53 (0.0 ± 0.0 vs 51.8 ± 5.9, P = .00) and Bcl-2 protein expression (36.5 ± 3.5 vs 74.6 ± 1.9, P = .00). CONCLUSIONS: Alterations of the p53 and Bcl-2 proteins occur during the development of recurrent SCC. Additional studies are needed to confirm and extend our results.