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Positive retests of COVID-19 represent a public health concern because of the increased risk of transmission. This study explored whether factors other than the nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) contribute to positive retest results. Patients with COVID-19 admitted to the Guanggu district of the Hubei Maternal and Child Health Hospital between February 17 and March 28, 2020, were retrospectively included. The patients were grouped into the negative (n = 133) and positive (n = 51) retest groups. The results showed that the proportion of patients presenting with cough was higher (P P = 0.018) in the positive than in the negative retest group. The positive retest group showed shorter durations between symptom onset and hospitalization (P P = 0.033). The positive retest group had higher basophil counts (P = 0.023) and direct bilirubin (P = 0.032) and chlorine concentrations (P = 0.023) but lower potassium concentrations (P = 0.001) than the negative retest group. Multivariable regression analysis showed that coughing (OR = 7.59, 95% CI 2.28–25.32, P = 0.001) and serum chloride concentrations (OR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.08–1.77, P = 0.010) were independently associated with a positive retest result. Coughing and serum chloride concentrations were independent risk factors for positive NAAT retest results. Patients with a hospital stay of

The limitations in discriminating preablation disease-active status of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) still represent a major challenge to radioiodine dose management. Cytokines, the small protein signaling molecules that constitute the thyroid tumor microenvironment, play significant roles in the facilitation of intercellular communication and the control of tumorigenesis. Also, more attention should be paid to the molecular events within the innate and adaptive immune systems that occur after the organism being exposed to ionizing radiation. Therefore, we implemented a study of 260 patients with DTC in thyroid hormone withdrawal status who were treated with total thyroidectomy to explore the relationship between cytokines and recurrence/active disease status. Besides, we made a cross-sectional study to analyze pre- and post-ablation serum concentration of cytokines of 86 patients with DTC. There was a relationship between clinicohistopathological characteristics of patients with DTC and the presence of cytokines. It is noteworthy that patients with recurrence/active disease were at a higher serum interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R) level than the disease-free patients (213.59 ± 75.43 pg/ml vs. 186.80 ± 77.40 pg/ml, P = 0.005). Positive correlation was observed between serum IL-2R and thyroglobulin (Tg) (P = 0.003). We also found significant changes in the cytokine profile after radioiodine ablation, including the decrease of tumor necrosis factor-α and IL-8 (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, respectively), and increase of IL-2R (P < 0.001). Thus, we suggest that serum IL-2R may assist in evaluating the disease status during the post-thyroidectomy follow-up and radioiodine therapy has an immunoregulatory effect on serum cytokines.

The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleic acid test is currently the gold standard for diagnosing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This disease requires high-quality viral nucleic acid tests, and selecting the type of specimen from patients, who are at different disease stages, to use in the nucleic acid test is challenging. This article reports in detail the diagnosis and treatment process for two patients with confirmed COVID-19 and analyzes the results of the SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid tests that were used for different types of specimens (sputum from deep cough, nasopharyngeal swab, and feces). The nucleic acid testing results of sputum from deep cough showed the best performance for positive detection. Our findings provide a reference for selecting the most suitable specimen for the clinical diagnosis of COVID-19 and improving the positive detection rate.

Background Novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 causes the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in humans, which has spread rapidly worldwide. Most critical cases of COVID-19 are accompanied by complicated chronic underlying diseases. This retrospective study aims to analyze the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients with chronic underlying diseases.Methods A total of 1,183 COVID-19 patients were divided into the chronic underlying disease (CUD, n = 538) group and the non-underlying disease (non-CUD, n = 645) group. The clinical characteristics and outcomes were collected and compared between the two groups.Results There were significant differences in age, weight, and SPO2 on admission between the CUD and non-CUP groups. The ratio of severe cases in the CUD group was higher than that in the non-CUD group (χ2 = 35.58, p-value 2 = 5.57, p-value = 0.018). No statistical difference in mortality between the CUD (n = 18) and non-CUD groups (n = 13). All surviving patients were cured and discharged. A total of 33 patients had a positive re-examination result for nucleic acid test one week after discharge, including 14 patients with underlying diseases and 19 patients without underlying diseases. Conclusion: COVID-19 patients with underlying diseases had poorer clinical conditions and had a longer hospital stay, but after active treatment, the mortality had not increased significantly.

// Hengwei Fan 1, * , Wanwan Yi 2, * , Chenxing Wang 1 and Jisheng Wang 1 1 Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital & Yuying Children’s Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Zhejiang 325027, China 2 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital, Tongji University, Shanghai 200072, China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Jisheng Wang, email: 18321775325@163.com Keywords: EMMPRIN, prognosis, clinicopathological significance, cancer, meta-analysis Received: November 10, 2016 Accepted: June 20, 2017 Published: July 31, 2017 ABSTRACT Extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (EMMPRIN) has been reported to be associated with tumor formation and invasion in many studies. However, the clinicopathological significance and prognosis of EMMPRIN in cancer patients remains inconclusive. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to assess the predictive potential of EMMPRIN in various cancers. By searching Pubmed, Cochrane library database and web of science comprehensively, 39studies with 5739 cases were included in our meta-analysis. The results indicated that EMMPRIN overexpression was significantly associated with poor outcome of cancers (HR=2.46, 95% CI: 2.21-2.75, P

Purpose: To establish a computed tomography–based prognostic model for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma treated with transarterial chemoembolization. Materials and Methods: Using prospectively collected data from 195 consecutive patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent chemolipiodolization at the Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital between 2013 and 2016, we established a prognostic model based on hepatocellular carcinoma enhancement patterns on computed tomography scans to predict the outcome of transarterial chemoembolization. Furthermore, a histopathology analysis was performed on 108 different patients undergoing resection between 2014 and 2016 to identify whether there was a correlation between enhancement pattern and microvessel density. Results: The prognostic model classified hepatocellular carcinoma into 3 types: type I, which reached peak enhancement during the arterial phase and had a high mean microvessel density (101.5 vessels/0.74 mm2); type II, which reached peak enhancement during the portal venous or delayed phase and had an intermediate microvessel density (53.6 vessels/0.74 mm2); and type III, in which the tumor was insignificantly enhanced and had a low microvessel density (21.1 vessels/0.74 mm2). For type I, II, and III hepatocellular carcinoma, the post-transarterial chemoembolization 1-year tumor complete necrosis rates were 13.7%, 36.5%, and 0%, respectively ( P < .001), and the 3-year overall survival rates were 14.1%, 38.6%, and 0%, respectively ( P < .001). Conclusion: Our results indicate that hepatocellular carcinoma type is an independent predictor of complete necrosis and overall survival