The hospitalization rate and clinical characteristics of mucormycosis prior and during COVID-19 pandemic: A single-center study.

INTRODUCTION: There have been some reports of the association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and mucormycosis. This study aims to compare the hospitalization rates and clinical characteristics of mucormycosis before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODOLOGY: In this retrospective study, we compared the hospitalization rate of mucormycosis patients in Namazi hospital in Southern Iran for two periods of 40 months. We defined July 1st, 2018 to February 17th, 2020, as the pre-COVID-19 period and February 18th, 2020, to September 30th, 2021, as the COVID-19 period. In addition, a quadrupled group of hospitalized patients with age and sex-matched SARS-COV-2 infection without any sign of mucormycosis was selected as the control group for COVID-associated mucormycosis. RESULT: In the total of 72 mucormycosis patients in the COVID period, 54 patients had a clinical history and a positive RT-PCR, which confirms the diagnosis of SARS-COV2 infection. The hospitalization rate of mucormycosis showed an increase of + 306% (95% CI: + 259%, + 353%) from a monthly average value of 0.26 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.14, 0.38) in the pre-COVID period to 1.06 in the COVID period. The use of corticosteroids prior to the initiation of hospitalization (p ≤ 0.01), diabetes (DM) (p = 0.04), brain involvement (p = 0.03), orbit involvement (p = 0.04), and sphenoid sinus invasion (p ≤ 0.01) were more common in patients with mucormycosis during the COVID period. CONCLUSIONS: In high-risk patients, especially diabetics, special care to avoid the development of mucormycosis must be taken into account in patients with SARS-COV-2 infection considered for treatment with corticosteroids.

Is it Effective and Cost-saving to Send all Tonsillectomy Specimens for Histopathological Examinations?

INTRODUCTION: The present study aimed to investigate the necessity or unnecessity of sending all tonsillectomy specimens for pathological examinations in Shiraz, Iran; moreover, it examined malignancies, cost-saving, causes, and the ways to prevent sending all specimens. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the first retrospective phase of the study, a checklist was used to gather demographic, clinical, and cost information of 18,437 tonsillectomy specimens during 2004-2018 in Shiraz, Iran. In order to estimate the cost of each pathology specimen, the cost components, including human resources costs and consumables, were collected in the private and public sectors separately and divided by the number of cases performed. Finally, the financial burden resulting from these services (in the study centers) was calculated by multiplying each item's cost by the total number of these services. RESULTS: Out of the total 18,437 histopathology specimens examined, only 118 (0.64%) samples were identified with unusual diagnoses, of which 66 (56%) cases had malignant tumors, and the remaining 52 (44%) samples included benign tumors (n=41), infections (n=2), and other problems (n=9). The second phase results also indicated that according to the ear, nose, and throat experts, the rules and regulations governing the country's health system and the suspicion of tumors were the main reasons for sending tonsil specimens for pathological examinations. Generally, the annual cost-saving rates in the studied public and private centers were $87,919 and $179,530 purchasing power parity, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: According to the results, sending tonsillectomy specimens should only be limited to nonroutine ones for economic-clinical reasons.

Body Dysmorphic and Narcissistic Personality Disorder in Cosmetic Rhinoplasty Candidates.

BACKGROUND: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and other psychological problems are more common in cosmetic surgery applicants. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of the symptoms of BDD and narcissistic personality disorder in rhinoplasty candidates. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on rhinoplasty applicants. All subjects were evaluated by BDD and narcissistic personality questionnaires (NPI-16). RESULTS: A total of 380 patients were studied. Our findings showed that the prevalence of mild, moderate, and severe BDD symptoms was 31.6%, 43.4% and 25%, respectively. The mean BDD scores were not significantly different in variables such as gender, age, marital status, history of cosmetic surgery, education, place of residence, and income. 29.5% of the subjects had symptoms of narcissism. There was no significant relationship between the symptoms of narcissism and variables such as gender, age, marital status, history of cosmetic surgery, place of residence, and income. Higher education was associated with higher rates of narcissistic personality disorder (p-value = 0.021). CONCLUSIONS: According to the results of the study, there was no statistically significant relationship between BDD score and demographic parameters. Also, association between narcissistic personality disorder and demographic characteristics was not significant except for education. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .