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Meckel diverticulum is the most common congenital anomaly of the gastrointestinal tract which is located in small bowel within 2 feet of the ileocecal valve. Nevertheless, an inverted Meckel's diverticulum is an uncommon condition believed to result from aberrant peristalsis in that specific area. This article showed signs, symptoms, and possible clinical presentations using CARE guidelines in a case of inverted Meckel's diverticulum and reviews other possible features lastly, definitive treatment, results, and case follow-up were shown to refresh, and raise surgeons' awareness of this rare disorder.
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Due to the limited number of studies in children with focal epilepsy and the importance of choosing the most suitable drug to control seizures in children, the administration of the most effective medication with the most negligible adverse events is vital. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and adverse events of carbamazepine vs. levetiracetam monotherapy in children with focal seizures. A monocentric, randomized, controlled, double-blind, parallel-group clinical trial was designed. This study was approved by the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (registration number: IRCT20170216032603N2) on June 19, 2020, and conducted at the neurology department of Imam Ali Hospital, Karaj, Iran, from February 2020 to March 2021. This study assessed 120 patients with recently diagnosed focal seizures aged 2 to 14. Patients were randomly divided into two groups, who received carbamazepine (CBZ) 15 to 20 mg/kg and levetiracetam (LEV) 20 to 40 mg/kg daily, respectively. Patients were evaluated for improvement and complications at weeks 4, 12, and 24. Out of 120 patients included in the study, six patients were excluded due to various complications of CBZ. The mean number of seizures at the end of the fourth, twelfth, and twenty-fourth weeks were 1.09 ± 0.75, 0.62 ± 0.27, and 0.39 ± 0.12 in the carbamazepine group and 1.11 ± 0.63, 0.52 ± 0.21, and 0.37 ± 0.11 in the LEV group, respectively (P > 0.05). Similarly, the number of seizure-free patients was 34, 44, and 48 in the CBZ group compared to 41, 50, and 54 in the LEV group, respectively (P > 0.05). On the other hand, the frequency of somnolence, dermatologic complications, and agitation was considerably higher in the CBZ group (P < 0.05). Although both medicines were equally effective in seizure control, CBZ was associated with considerably more adverse events and less patient compliance. Physicians should be aware of this difference to prevent unwanted consequences.
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Objectives: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is the most challenging crisis in the contemporary world. Besides severe pulmonary involvement, the disease also has several extrapulmonary manifestations, and new signs and symptoms are associated with it every dayThe present study aimed to inquire about the frequency of neurological manifestations and risk factors of COVID-19. Materials & Methods: This retrospective, descriptive study included patients with neurological involvement admitted to the Alborz University of Medical Sciences academic hospitals from March 2020 to July 2020 with confirmed COVID-19 infection. The data included in the analysis were the patient's demographic information, underlying diseases, neurological manifestations, and laboratory findings. Results: The study included ninety-five patients with a mean age of fifty-nine. Neurological symptoms and signs were observed in 91.6% and 10.5% of the patients, respectively. The most frequently associated neurological symptoms of COVID-19 were fatigue (49.5%), headache (47.4%), and dizziness (45.3%). Furthermore, the most common neurological involvements included gait disorders (6.3%), cerebellar dysfunction (4.2%), and cerebrovascular accidents (3.15%). Positive troponin was shown to be the strongest predictor of neurological signs (OR=21, P=0.017), followed by WBC≥15,000 (OR = 20.75, P=0.018) and a history of respiratory disease (OR=7.42, P=0.007). Conclusion: Neurological symptoms were observed in more than 91% of the patients, while neurological signs were present in 10.5% of the COVID-19 patients. Additionally, positive troponin, WBC≥15,000, and a history of respiratory disease were the strongest predictors of neurological signs.
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Background: Liver transplantation (LT) is widely recognized as a life-saving therapy for patients with end-stage liver disease. However, due to certain posttransplant complications, reoperations or endovascular interventions may be necessary to improve patient outcomes. This study was conducted to examine reasons for reoperation during the initial hospital stay following LT and to identify its predictive factors. Methods: We evaluated the incidence and etiology of reoperation in 133 patients who underwent LT from brain-dead donors over a 9-year period based on our experiences. Results: A total of 52 reoperations were performed for 29 patients, with 17 patients requiring one reoperation, seven requiring two, three requiring three, one requiring four, and one requiring eight. Four patients underwent liver retransplantation. The most common cause of reoperation was intra-abdominal bleeding. Hypofibrinogenemia was identified as the sole predisposing factor for bleeding. Frequencies of comorbidities such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension did not differ significantly between groups. Among patients who underwent reoperation due to bleeding, the mean plasma fibrinogen level was 180.33±68.21 mg/dL, while among reoperated patients without bleeding, it was 240.62±105.14 mg/dL (P=0.045; standard mean difference, 0.61; 95% confidence interval, 0.19-1.03). The initial hospital stay was significantly longer for the reoperated group (47.5±15.5 days) than for the non-reoperated group (22.5±5.5 days). Conclusions: Meticulous pretransplant assessment and postoperative care are essential for the early identification of predisposing factors and posttransplant complications. In order to enhance graft and patient outcomes, any complications should be addressed without hesitation, and appropriate intervention or surgery should not be delayed.
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OBJECTIVES: Our aim was to compare the donation process before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in an organ procurement unit in Iran and to discuss different strategies to address the impact of the pandemic on the donation process. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All activities including donor detection, donor selection, family approach, donors characteristics, rate of organs per donor, and types of organs were compared between 2 intervals over 18 months (March 2020 to June 2021 [during the COVID19 pandemic] vs November 2018 to February 2020 [before the pandemic]). RESULTS: Before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 218 and 137 brain dead donors with mean age of 42.6 ± 14.5 and 42.8 ± 15.5 years, respectively (P = .82). The prevalence of tumors leading to brain death decreased by more than half during the COVID-19 pandemic (P = .04). There was a 52% increase in cardiac death before organ retrieval during the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching 38% from 25% before COVID-19. During the 2 intervals, the number of organs per donor was 2.3 ± 1.2 and 2.2 ± 1.2 (P = .52). The rate of actual to potential donors before and during the pandemic was significantly different, with 42.16 ± 7.8% before and 29.9 ± 4.8% during the pandemic, mostly as a result of unsuitable donors. The time to obtain family consent during the COVID-19 pandemic was 35.1 ± 8.5 hours, which was a significantly longer length of time than before the pandemic (21.3 ± 12.3 hours; P = .008). CONCLUSIONS: In our organ procurement unit, which encompasses a population of 5.5 million in Tehran, Iran, the number of actual donors was reduced dramatically during the studied pandemic period. However, despite a high workload, all transplant centers and organ procurement units in Iran worked to identify and transplant the available organs to reduce wait list mortality.
