Conversion Rate of Web-based Versus Non-web-based Patient Referral Sources in a Facial Plastic Surgery Practice.

PURPOSE: To compare the conversion rate (number of procedures/referrals) of web-based and non-web-based referrals to a facial plastic surgery practice (2012-2019). METHOD: Data on demographics, referral source, patient's concern, and their facial procedures were recorded. Web-based referral sources include website and Instagram. Non-web-based counterparts were the word-of-mouth, medical professionals, and others (TV, radio, printed media). Patient concerns were either cosmetic or noncosmetic (functional). Patients who underwent facial cosmetic surgery and injections (botulinum toxin A, filler, fat) were categorized in the cosmetic procedure group. Patients with functional procedures with or without facial injections were categorized in the noncosmetic procedure group. The conversion rate was defined as the ratio of the number of referrals with different facial procedures to the total number of referrals. RESULTS: Included were 19,965 patients, majority of whom (63.3%) had cosmetic concern. Total, cosmetic, and noncosmetic conversion rates were 30.1%, 27.7%, and 2.4% for the web-based and 24.1%, 19.8%, and 4.3% for the non-web-based referrals, respectively (0.3 < p < 0.4). Cosmetic conversion rate grew from 6.7% in referrals ≤20 to more than 23% in >20 years of age (p = 0.03). It was also significantly (p < 0.001) higher in the referrals with cosmetic (28.3%) than noncosmetic (12.1%) concern. Gender and year of practice did not have a significant effect on the conversion rates. CONCLUSION: Conversion rates were not significantly different between the web-based and non-web-based referrals. A significantly higher cosmetic conversion rate was observed for the referrals with cosmetic concern and older than 20 years.

Web-Based Versus Non-Web-Based Patient Referral Patterns and Factors Affecting Them.

PURPOSE: To analyze the 8-year (2012-2019) change in the patient referral source trends to a plastic surgery practice and the factors affecting them. METHODS: Data on demographics, referral source, and patient's concern were recorded. The web-based referral sources were website and Instagram and non-web-based included other patients (word-of-mouth), medical professionals (physician, nurse, and optometrist), and others (printed media, TV, and radio). Patients' concerns were divided into cosmetic and noncosmetic. The first (2012-2015) and second (2016-2019) half of the study period were also compared. RESULTS: Included patients were 19,965. The 8-year referral sources, in order of frequency, were medical professionals (34%), other patients (32.7%), web-based sources (32.5%), and the others (0.7%). The web-based sources significantly increased by 2.4 times in the second half. While they had a third rank after the medical professionals and other patients in the first half of the study period, they became the first in the second half. The non-web-based source showed a decline during the study period. Type of referral sources was not significantly different between the 2 genders. A significantly higher percentage of the patients between 21 and 50 years of age were referred through web-based sources than the other age groups. Patients with cosmetic concerns were 2 times more likely to be referred through web-based sources. CONCLUSION: The web-based referral sources have significantly grown from the third rank in the beginning to the first one from 2015 till the end of study.

Correction to: Serotype distribution of Streptococcus pneumoniae among healthy carriers and clinical patients: a systematic review from Iran.

A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-020-04084-3.

Serotype distribution of Streptococcus pneumoniae among healthy carriers and clinical patients: a systematic review from Iran.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is associated with high morbidity and mortality in the world. Commercially licensed and available pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) contain 10 (PCV10) and 13 (PCV13) pneumococcal serotypes. The most common serotypes of S. pneumoniae causing clinical diseases and carriers of S. pneumoniae in Iran are not yet known. Reviewing and reporting trends in the distribution of pneumococcal serotypes in Iran will be useful for policy-making as PCV is being introduced into Iran's routine immunization program. Here, we report a systematic literature review of studies regarding S. pneumoniae serotype distribution in clinical and carrier patients in Iran. MEDLINE (via PubMed), Scopus, Embase, Ovid, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and the Iranian Database were used to identify relevant papers published from 1 January 2000 to 21 August 2019. The search returned 8 relevant articles. Among serotypes causing invasive pneumococcal diseases (IPD), serotype 23F (16.4%) was the most circulating serotype followed by 19F (15.2%), 19A (11.3%), 6A/B (9.2%), 9 V (5.8%), and 11A (5.14%). In carrier patients, the most common serotypes were, in rank order, 6A/B (10%), 19F (9%), 14(6.2%), 17F (4.8%), and 20(4.5%). Vaccine coverage among IPD patients would be 67.1% for PCV10-TT and 73.8% for PCV13. The present review demonstrates that the serotypes which were most responsible for disease in Iran are included in PCV10-TT and PCV13. However, sentinel surveillance must be continued in representative parts of the country to assess changing trends in the distribution of pneumococcal serotypes and their implications for vaccine selection and rollout in Iran.

Nonconvulsive status epilepticus as an unusual presentation of tuberculous meningoencephalitis: A case report.

We describe a 50-year-old woman who was recently diagnosed with tuberculosis, with acute alteration in mental status. EEG showed nonconvulsive status epilepticus features. Brain MRI revealed multiple ring-enhancing lesions. She responded well to treatment for both status epilepticus and tuberculosis. Her level of consciousness improved and she became fully aware.

Effects of Immune System-Related Medications on COVID-19 Outcome in a Cohort of Iranian Patients: Preliminary Report of a Data Mining Study.

BACKGROUND: Regulation of the immune system is critical for fighting against viral infections. Both suppression and hyperactivity of the immune system result in failure of treatment. The present study was designed to show the effects of immune system-related medications on mortality and length of stay (LOS) in a cohort of Iranian patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: A data mining study was performed on 6417 cases of COVID-19 covered by 17 educational hospitals of Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran. Association of a researcher-designed drug list with death and LOS was studied. For death outcome, logistic regression was used reporting odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). For LOS, right censored Poisson regression was used reporting incidence rate ratio (IRR) with 95% CI. RESULTS: Among the corticosteroids, prednisolone was a risk factor on death (OR = 1.41, 95%CI = 1.03 - 1.94). This association was increased after adjustment of age interactions (OR = 3.45, 95%CI = 1.01 - 11.81) and was removed after adjustment of ICU admission interactions (OR = 2.64, 95%CI = 0.70 - 9.92). Hydroxychloroquine showed a protecting effect on death (OR = 0.735, 95%CI = 0.627 - 0.862); however, this association was removed after adjustment of age interactions (OR = 0.76, 95%CI = 0.41 - 1.40). Among the antivirals, oseltamivir showed a protecting effect on death (OR = 0.628, 95%CI = 0.451 - 0.873); however, this association was removed after adjustment of age interactions (OR = 0.45, 95%CI = 0.11 - 1.82). For reduction of LOS, the only significant association was for hydroxychloroquine (IRR = 0.85, 95%CI = 0.79 - 0.92). CONCLUSION: The results of such data mining studies can be used in clinics until completing the evidence. Hydroxychloroquine may reduce mortality in some specific groups; however, its association may be confounded by some latent variables and unknown interactions. Administration of corticosteroids should be based on the conditions of each case.

COVID-19 and cancer: A comparative case series.

BACKGROUND: Cancer patients, with an incidence of more than 18 million new cases per year, may constitute a significant portion of the COVID-19 infected population. In the pandemic situation, these patients are considered highly vulnerable to infectious complications due to their immunocompromised state. MATERIAL & METHODS: In this retrospective case series, the documents of solid cancer patients infected by SARS-CoV-2, hospitalized in Shariati hospital between 20 February and 20 April 2020, were evaluated. The diagnosis of COVID-19 was based on laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 and/or features of chest CT scan highly suggestive for SARS-CoV-2. RESULTS: A total of 33 COVID-19-infected cancer patients were included. Mean age was 63.9 years, and 54.5% of the patients were male. LDH level was significantly higher (1487.5 ± 1392.8 vs. 932.3 ± 324.7 U/L, P-value=0.016) and also serum albumin was significantly lower in non-survivors (3.6 ± 0.5 vs. 2.9 ± 0.6 g/dL, p-value=0.03). Among 16 patients with stage IV cancer, thirteen patients died, which was significantly higher compared to stage I-III cancer patients (81.3% vs. 18.8% P-value= <0.001). In terms of developing complications, sepsis, invasive ventilation and mortality was significantly higher in patients who received cytotoxic chemotherapy within the last 14 days. CONCLUSION: In this study, we showed that the mortality rate among cancer patients affected by COVID-19 was higher than general population and this rate has a significant correlation with factors including the stage of the disease, the type of cancer, the activity of cancer and finally receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy within 14 days before diagnosis of COVID-19.

Best time to wait for the improvement of the sperm parameter after varicocelectomy: 3 or 6 months?

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the duration of time required following varicocelectomy to wait for the improvements of semen parameters. Therefore, we characterized the changes with the time in sperm parameters in men after varicocelectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this prospective cohort study we included consecutively observed men who underwent varicocelectomy between September 2017 and September 2018 in a referral academic hospital. Clinical data of the patients, as well as their semen parameters, were measured before surgery and at 3 and 6 months afterward. RESULTS: In this study, a total of 100 men with average age of 29.5 ± 6.2 years were included. Mean sperm concentration and sperm motility significantly improved by 3 (p < 0.05), but not by 6 months following varicocelectomy. The semen volume and sperm with normal morphology were the same before and after surgery (p > 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the improvement of semen parameters when comparing 6 months to 3 months postoperatively (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Sperm parameters (concentration and motility) improve by 3 months after varicocelectomy without further improvements. Consequently, physicians should decide quickly after 3-month of varicocelectomy if surgery has been not helpful and then plan other therapies, like assisted reproductive technology (ART) for managing infertility in couples.

Preventive Effect of Trimetazidine on Contrast-Induced Acute Kidney Injury in CKD Patients Based on Urinary Neutrophil Gelatinase-associated Lipocalin (uNGAL): A randomized Clinical Trial.

INTRODUCTION: Contrast-induced Acute Kidney Injury (CI-AKI) is a prevalent complication of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of periprocedural administration of trimetazidine as an anti-oxidant agent on the incidence of CI-AKI in CKD patients based on changes of Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin (uNGAL) level, which has recently been introduced as an early predictor of CI-AKI. METHODS: One hundred CKD patients with a mean GFR of 50 ± 7 cc/min who were candidate for coronary angiography assigned randomly to receive (50 patients, intervention group) or not receive (50 patients, control group) trimetazidine (70mg/d) for 72 hours. CI-AKI was defined as 0.5 mg or 25% increase in serum creatinine. We also checked uNGAL before and 12h after angiography. RESULTS: Serum creatinine, showed a trend of less increment in the case group, although could not achieve a significant difference, there was a significant difference in urinary NGAL rise between two groups. CI-AKI was defined as 1.7 times increase in uNGAL level (12h after angiography to pre-procedurally uNGAL level ratio) according to the ROC curves. The incidence of CI-AKI according to urinary NGAL definition was 8% in the Trimetazidine group and 24% in the control group (P < .05). CONCLUSION: We concluded that Trimetazidine treatment before angiography may be effective in CI-AKI prevention. Moreover, it is shown that 1.7 times increase in urine NGAL after angiography is a valuable cut off point for clinicians to discriminate high risk patients for contrast nephropathy.