Neutrophil Maturation, Reactivity and Granularity Research Parameters to Characterize and Differentiate Convalescent Patients from Active SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

Studying the dynamics changes of neutrophils during innate immune response in coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) can help understand the pathogenesis of this disease. The aim of the study was to assess the usefulness of new neutrophil activation parameters: Immature Granulocyte (IG), Neutrophil Reactivity Intensity (NEUT-RI), Neutrophil Granularity Intensity (NEUT-GI), and data relating to granularity, activity, and neutrophil volume (NE-WX, NE-WY, NE-WZ) available in hematology analyzers to distinguish convalescent patients from patients with active SARS-CoV-2 infection and healthy controls (HC). The study group consisted of 79 patients with a confirmed positive RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV2 infection, 71 convalescent patients, and 20 HC. We observed leukopenia with neutrophilia in patients with active infection compared to convalescents and HC. The IG median absolute count was higher in convalescent patients than in COVID-19 and HC (respectively, 0.08 vs. 0.03 vs. 0.02, p < 0.0001). The value of the NEUT-RI parameter was the highest in HC and the lowest in convalescents (48.3 vs. 43.7, p < 0.0001). We observed the highest proportion of NE-WX, NE-WY, and NE-WZ parameters in HC, without differences between the COVID-19 and convalescent groups. New neutrophil parameters can be useful tools to assess neutrophils' activity and functionalities in the immune response during infection and recovery from COVID-19 disease.

Early complications of extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy in the records of the Department of Paediatrics, Nephrology and Allergology of the Military Institute of Medicine - preliminary results.

The aim of the study was to analyse the frequency and type of early complications of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) and to assess the safety of the procedure among paediatric patients. The study is a retrospective analysis of all ESWL procedures carried out due to urolithiasis in 2009-2015 in the Department of Paediatrics, Nephrology and Allergology of the Military Institute of Medicine. Medical records of 170 children were analysed: 94 girls (55.3%) and 76 boys (44.7%) aged 1 to 18 years. Out of the 272 procedures performed, 247 were included in the study. Among 233 effective ESWL treatments, complications were noted in 35 (15.02%) procedures: among 10 girls (40%) and 15 boys (60%). In 25 cases (10.73%) surgical intervention was necessary due to urinary obstruction caused by a fragment of a disintegrated stone. Urinary tract infection was present among 3 patients (1.29%) who required surgical treatment. Nonsurgical complications included 7 urinary tract infections (3%) and 3 cases of severe abdominal pain (1.29%). Complications such as perirenal haematoma, subcapsular haematoma or ureteral perforation were not observed. The vast majority of complications observed in the study were associated with urinary obstruction caused by partial blockage of the ureter with kidney stone fragments ("steinstrasse"). Despite the complications that were documented, ESWL should be considered a safe procedure.