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Background: Anemia is a major global disease burden factor linked to an adverse impact on overall prognosis and negatively affects the quality of life. There are some suggested findings for anemia on non-contrast chest CT, like relatively dense interventricular septum (septal sign) or fairly dense aortic wall (aortic ring sign). The measured attenuation value is a reproducible physical density measurement, readily obtainable from a standard CT examination. There is no reliable cut-off for blood attenuation to suggest anemia on the non-contrast chest CT. In the current study, we evaluated subjective and objective criteria' diagnostic accuracy for diagnosing anemia on unenhanced thoracic CT.Methods: Patients admitted to our academic hospital between June 2019 to March 2020 were candidates to be enrolled in this retrospective study. For the subjective assessment, the radiologists were asked to record the presence or absence of the “aortic ring sign” and “interventricular septum sign.” For the objective evaluations, blood density was measured at various anatomic locations. Results: A total of 325 patients were included in this study. There was a significant correlation between blood attenuation in all measured segments and Hb level. Subjective analysis revealed that the aortic ring sign was more sensitive than the interventricular septum sign in detecting anemia, whereas the latter character was more specific.Conclusion: The results suggest that it is possible to detect anemia from an unenhanced chest CT scan. Both objective and subjective criteria show promising sensitivity and specificity.

Background Women represent the majority of the healthcare workforce and many of these women are probably pregnant and working at the front-line during COVID-19 outbreak. In COVID-19 crisis healthcare workers experienced excessive issues and challenges that made them vulnerable for getting various mental health disorders. We aimed to evaluate the mental health state among pregnant health care workers in COVID-19 era. MethodsThis cross-sectional study included 64 pregnant clinical residents, general physicians, nurses and other medical staff who worked in the hospitals in Iran, from August 2020 to December 2020 using an anonymous online survey available on Google Form platform. The online survey consisted of socio demographic questions, pregnancy-related questions, and some questions about medical/drug history, The Persian versions of General Health Questionnaire – 28 (GHQ-28), and Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (CDAS) were also fulfilled by the participants.ResultsThe mean age and gestational age of participants were 31.3±3.9 years, and 24.5±10.1 weeks. Psychological problems were moderate (total score GHQ-28> 40) in 9.4% (n:6) of the pregnant health care workers (PHCW). The frequency of moderate/severe problems in the four subclasses, including somatic symptoms, anxiety/insomnia, social dysfunction, and depression were 9(14.1%), 25(39.0%), 7(10.9%), and 10(15.6%), respectively. According to CDAS, 26.5% of participants had moderate to severe COVID-19 related anxiety. COVID-19 related anxiety and its subclasses, physical and psychological, were significantly correlated with GHQ-28 total score and its subclasses, including somatic symptoms, anxiety/insomnia, social dysfunction, and depression among pregnant health care workers (PConclusionAccording to the results of the current study, over 25% of the pregnant health care workers have moderate to severe COVID-19 related anxiety; so it is crucial for policymakers to focus on the mental health of the pregnant health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic. This study has major implications on health care practice. Further studies are needed to draw a clear picture of mental health problems among PHCW.

Objectives: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can present with a variety of symptoms. Severity of the disease may be associated with several factors. Here, we review clinical features of COVID-19 patients with different severities.Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in Imam Reza hospital, Mashhad, Iran, during February-April 2020. COVID-19 patients with typical computed tomography (CT) patterns and/or positive reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were included. The patients were classified into three groups of moderate, severe, and critical based on disease severity. Demographic, clinical, laboratory, and radiologic findings were collected and compared. PResults: Overall, 200 patients with mean age of 69.75±6.39 years, of whom 82 (41%) were female were studied. Disease was severe/critical in the majority of patients (167, 83.5%). Disease severity was significantly associated with age, malignant comorbidities, dyspnea, nausea/vomiting, confusion, respiratory rate, pulse rate, O2 saturation, extent of CT involvement, serum C-reactive protein (CRP), pH, pO2, and aspartate transaminase (P2 saturation, nausea/vomiting, and extent of lung CT involvement were independent predictors of severe/critical COVID-19 (OR=0.342, 45.93, and 25.48, respectively; PConclusions: Our results indicate O2 saturation, nausea/vomiting, and extent of lung CT involvement as independent predictors of severe COVID-19 conditions. Serum CRP levels and pO2 were also considerably higher patients with higher severity and can be used along with other factors as possible predictors of severe disease in COVID-19 patients.

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