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Introduction: This study was carried out to demonstrate the negative influence that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the ability of patients to treat hyperhidrosis with iontophoresis. The purpose of this study is to identify the annual distribution of patients with hyperhidrosis as well as elaborate a curve of cases within the time interval studied. Methods: It is a retrospective study initiated in the Department of Neuropsychomotor Rehabilitation of the "Sf. Ioan" Emergency Clinical Hospital for Children, Galati, Romania, in which we analyzed the electronic database, the treatment, and the consultation files of all the children who presented between January 2013 and December 2023. We found 111 patients who met the inclusion criteria. Results: During the 3 years of the pandemic, the number of patients who came to our clinic suddenly dropped to 0. Limitations: This study was conducted on a relatively small number of patients in a Neuropsychomotor Recovery clinic. This study includes only patients with palmar and/or plantar hyperhidrosis who presented to the clinic for iontophoresis. Conclusion: Although it is a disease that significantly influences the quality of life, patients and their families do not consider hyperhidrosis to be an urgent problem that can be improved by treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: The objective of the study is to analyze the impact of cardiovascular history on mortality in COVID-19 patients, hospitalized in the intensive care unit with indications for continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and subsequently mechanical ventilation, without oncological disease. Methods: A retrospective observational study was carried out on a group of 108 critical COVID-19 patients. We compared demographic data, paraclinical and clinical parameters, days of hospitalization, and mortality rate between two groups of patients, one group with a history of cardiovascular disease (81 patients) and a group without a history of cardiovascular disease (27 patients). Results: Patients with cardiovascular antecedents had a higher mortality rate than those without cardiovascular antecedents, presenting severe forms with shorter survival time in the intensive care unit and increased inflammatory evidence. Compared to patients without a history of cardiovascular illness, those with cardiovascular disease had a lower average age, and developed a severe form of COVID-19. Conclusions: Cardiovascular antecedents can worsen the prognosis of patients with COVID-19, requiring a careful screening and multidisciplinary approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Intra-abdominal cystic formations represent heterogeneous pathologies with varied localization and clinical manifestation. The first challenge of a giant intra-abdominal cystic lesion is identifying the organ of origin. The clinical presentation of intra-abdominal cystic lesions varies from acute manifestations to non-specific symptoms or accidental discovery. Case presentation: A 2-year-old girl presents to the emergency unit with a fever of 38.5 Celsius, loss of appetite, and apathy. The investigations showed a gigantic intra-abdominal mass whose organ belonging could not be specified. Postoperatively, a giant mesenteric lymphangioma was evident, which was completely excised. Discussion: Giant cystic formations modify the anatomical reports and become space-replacing formations, and the starting point is even more challenging to assess preoperatively. Nevertheless, the careful evaluation of the characteristics of the formation, the effect on the adjacent organs, the age of the patient, and the clinical picture can provide elements of differential diagnosis. The stated purpose of this work is to systematize intra-abdominal lesions according to the organ of origin and to make the preoperative diagnosis of an intra-abdominal cystic lesion in the pediatric patient easy to perform starting from the presented case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demodex represents the most frequent ectoparasite found in humans. Although Demodex mites are considered commensals of human pilosebaceous units, an abnormally high mite density can cause several ocular and cutaneous symptoms and signs, sometimes to a severe degree. Both Demodex spp. (folliculorum and brevis) play a significant part in eye pathology and facial dermatoses. These mites have been related to blepharitis, ocular rosacea, meibomian gland dysfunction and various skin diseases, including rosacea, demodicosis and seborrheic dermatitis. Understanding the importance of Demodex in both eye and skin conditions is crucial for accurate diagnosis and appropriate management strategies, which may involve targeted treatments to control the mite population and reduce associated symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: The newly emergent COVID-19 pandemic involved primarily the respiratory system and had also major cardiovascular system (CVS) implications, revealed by acute myocardial infarction (AMI), arrhythmias, myocardial injury, and thromboembolism. CVS involvement is done through main mechanisms—direct and indirect heart muscle injury, with high mortality rates, worse short-term outcomes, and severe complications. AMI is the echo of myocardial injury (revealed by increases in CK, CK-MB, and troponin serum markers—which are taken into consideration as possible COVID-19 risk stratification markers). When studying myocardial injury, physicians can make use of imaging studies, such as cardiac MRI, transthoracic (or transesophageal) echocardiography, coronary angiography, cardiac computed tomography, and nuclear imaging (which have been used in cases where angiography was not possible), or even endomyocardial biopsy (which is not always available or feasible). Two-case-series presentations: We present the cases of two COVID-19 positive male patients who were admitted into the Clinical Department of Cardiology in "Sfântul Apostol Andrei" Emergency Clinical Hospital of Galați (Romania), who presented with acute cardiac distress symptoms and have been diagnosed with ST elevation AMI. The patients were 82 and 57 years old, respectively, with moderate and severe forms of COVID-19, and were diagnosed with anteroseptal left ventricular AMI and extensive anterior transmural left ventricular AMI (with ventricular fibrillation at presentation), respectively. The first patient was a non-smoker and non-drinker with no associated comorbidities, and was later discharged, while the second one died due to AMI complications. Conclusions: From this two-case series, we extract the following: old age alone is not a significant risk factor for adverse outcomes in COVID-19-related CVS events, and that the cumulative effects of several patient-associated risk factors (be it either for severe forms of COVID-19 and/or acute cardiac injury) will most probably lead to poor patient prognosis (death). At the same time, serum cardiac enzymes, dynamic ECG changes, along with newly developed echocardiographic modifications are indicators for poor prognosis in acute cardiac injury in COVID-19 patients with acute myocardial injury, regardless of the presence of right ventricular dysfunction (due to pulmonary hypertension). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary hyperhidrosis (PH) is a relatively common chronic disorder, characterized by significant and uncontrollable sweating. The predominant areas of occurrence are hands, feet, head and armpits, and it affects both men and women equally, with a false impression of increased prevalence in women. This study aims to determine the incidence of cases of hyperhidrosis, the gender of the patients and the environment of origin and to identify the most affected age groups and the distribution of hyperhidrosis, as well as creating a curve of cases within the time interval studied and their comparison with those in the specialized literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Starting from the observations of the in vitro studies that describe a lower pathogenicity of the Omicron variant, we proposed to comparatively analyze two groups of patients admitted to our clinic, one at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the other one at the beginning of the Omicron wave of the pandemic, and to compare the severity of disease episodes. Patients and methods: 2 groups of patients with COVID-19, one group of 480 patients hospitalized in our clinic in March-August 2020 and one group of 320 patients admitted in January-June 2022, were selected. Demographic data, paraclinical profile at admission, comorbidities, the type and duration of treatment and the evolution of the patients in the two groups, were analyzed comparatively. Results: Our study showed statistically significant differences between group A compared to the group B, which support the aggressiveness of the Wuhan strain and the severity of its disease forms, such as: the predominance of pulmonary opacity on radiographies, a higher need for immunosuppressive therapies, a lower oxygen saturation, and a higher average values of inflammatory markers at admission, in the first group. Also, some factors with predictive potential for a severe clinical form, with predominance in group 2 (older age, a higher score of cumulative comorbidities, a higher value of D-dimers and aspartateaminotransferase, a lower value of concentration of prothrombin, and the higher average CURB-65 score, at admission) were observed. Conclusion: Our study identified predictive parameters of severity (D-dimers, aspartate-aminotransferase, prothrombin concentration, CURB-65 Score), statistically significant modified in the Omicron wave group compared to the Wuhan wave group, which draw attention to the possibility of severe and unfavorable evolution of the infection with Omicron in elderly population with multiple comorbidities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study objective. The objective of the present study is to introduce the diagnosis steps of a rare disease, Prader-Willi Syndrome. Materials and methods. The patient, aged 15 years, was admitted to the Clinical Emergency Hospital for Children "Sf. Ioan" with productive cough and dyspnea. Considering the morbid obesity, mental retardation and other phenotypic aspects noticed when she was admitted, further specialized tests and examinations were recommended (neurological, ENT, endocrinology, orthopedics, gynecology). After the correlation of this disease history with clinical examination and laboratory results, the suspected diagnosis was that of Prader-Willi Syndrome. The genetic analysis was recommended for diagnostic evaluation. Results. Laboratory tests revealed glucose metabolism disorder and hypothyroidism, endocrinological examination suggesting hypothalamic-pituitary etiology of morbid obesity. Gynecological exam found normal anatomically conformation, absent pituitary function, no changes on adrenarche, sex hormones almost absent, no indication of substitutive treatment. ACTH deficiency was correlated with cortisol deficiency. Genetic analysis (FISH, molecular probe D15S10) showed microdeletion on the long arm of chromosome 15 between bands q11-q13, confirming the diagnosis of Prader-Willi syndrome. Conclusion. The results of expert examination and laboratory investigations played an important role in setting the diagnosis but its confirmation is due to genetic testing. Our case highlights once again the need and importance of molecular diagnostic techniques in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Phthalates are intensively used in PVC containing materials. Since they are not chemically bond to PVC, they might easily migrate from materials from where they were added leading to phthalates human exposure. Previous research suggested that cliildren might be exposed to higher levels to phthalates than adults. In order to evaluate human exposure to such chemicals, phthalate metabolites (PMs) monitoring is an easier approach to follow given their relatively short half-life times in humans. Objectives. The present study focussed on the investigation of the lipids homeostasis metabolism modifications which might occur in obese and diabetic patients exposed to phthalates. Materials and method: A number of 47 obese and diabetic patients (age between 3-18y) were selected in January-May 2013 from Cliildren Emergency Clinical Hospital "Sf. loan" Galaţi. A control group (N=43) was randomly selected in a similar time interval (homogenously distributed for age and gender). Nine urinaiy PMs were targeted, including: mono-methyl phthalate, monoethyl phthalate. mono-(2-ethyl-5-carboxypentyl) phthalate, mono-(2-ethyl-5-hidroxyhexyl) phthalate, mono-(2-ethyl-5-oxoliexyl) phthalate, mono-(2-ethyl-hexyl) phthalate, mo no-/so-butyl phthalate, mono-«-butyl phthalate and mono-benzyl phthalate. Results: All targeted compounds were detected in most of the collected urine samples at measurable levels. Total PM levels were significantly correlated (/x<0.05) with age, height, waist circumference and body mass index for the obese and diabetic patients. Discussion Given the di-ethyl phthalate applicability mostly in cosmetics, our results suggested differences in cosmetic products usage between the tested groups. Previous literature documented the endocrine disruption properties of such chemicals and therefore their monitoring in humans should be considered a priority. Conclusions: All children included in our study are exposed to rather high levels of di-ethyl-hexyl phthalate, a phthalate recently regulated within EU marked concerning its applicability in children toys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]