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Background@#The occurrence of Graves’ disease and Hashimoto thyroiditis after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) raised concerns that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may trigger thyroid autoimmunity. We aimed to address the current uncertainties regarding incident thyroid dysfunction and autoimmunity among COVID-19 survivors. @*Methods@#We included consecutive adult COVID-19 patients without known thyroid disorders, who were admitted to Queen Mary Hospital from July 21 to September 21, 2020 and had serum levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone, free thyroxine, free triiodothyronine (fT3), and anti-thyroid antibodies measured both on admission and at 3 months. @*Results@#In total, 122 patients were included. Among 20 patients with abnormal thyroid function tests (TFTs) on admission (mostly low fT3), 15 recovered. Among 102 patients with initial normal TFTs, two had new-onset abnormalities that could represent different phases of thyroiditis. Among 104 patients whose anti-thyroid antibody titers were reassessed, we observed increases in anti-thyroid peroxidase (TPO) (P12 U, and four became anti-TPO-positive. Worse baseline clinical severity (P=0.018), elevated C-reactive protein during hospitalization (P=0.033), and higher baseline anti-TPO titer (P=0.005) were associated with a significant increase in anti-TPO titer. @*Conclusion@#Most patients with thyroid dysfunction on admission recovered during convalescence. Abnormal TFTs suggestive of thyroiditis occurred during convalescence, but infrequently. Importantly, our novel observation of an increase in anti-thyroid antibody titers post-COVID-19 warrants further follow-up for incident thyroid dysfunction among COVID-19 survivors.
ABSTRACT
Background@#The occurrence of Graves’ disease and Hashimoto thyroiditis after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) raised concerns that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may trigger thyroid autoimmunity. We aimed to address the current uncertainties regarding incident thyroid dysfunction and autoimmunity among COVID-19 survivors. @*Methods@#We included consecutive adult COVID-19 patients without known thyroid disorders, who were admitted to Queen Mary Hospital from July 21 to September 21, 2020 and had serum levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone, free thyroxine, free triiodothyronine (fT3), and anti-thyroid antibodies measured both on admission and at 3 months. @*Results@#In total, 122 patients were included. Among 20 patients with abnormal thyroid function tests (TFTs) on admission (mostly low fT3), 15 recovered. Among 102 patients with initial normal TFTs, two had new-onset abnormalities that could represent different phases of thyroiditis. Among 104 patients whose anti-thyroid antibody titers were reassessed, we observed increases in anti-thyroid peroxidase (TPO) (P12 U, and four became anti-TPO-positive. Worse baseline clinical severity (P=0.018), elevated C-reactive protein during hospitalization (P=0.033), and higher baseline anti-TPO titer (P=0.005) were associated with a significant increase in anti-TPO titer. @*Conclusion@#Most patients with thyroid dysfunction on admission recovered during convalescence. Abnormal TFTs suggestive of thyroiditis occurred during convalescence, but infrequently. Importantly, our novel observation of an increase in anti-thyroid antibody titers post-COVID-19 warrants further follow-up for incident thyroid dysfunction among COVID-19 survivors.
ABSTRACT
@#Background: Improving awareness, knowledge and attittude (AKA) of teachers and students about epilepsy is an important step to reduce the stigma experienced by children with epilepsy. To date there are no studies evaluating effectiveness of an information technology based epilepsy education programme in improving AKA among teachers and students. Method: Cross-sectional study was to assess the baseline AKA of epilepsy among Malaysian teachers and secondary school students, and to examine effectiveness improving their AKA using the Interactive Animated Epilepsy Education Programme (IAEEP). AKA of teachers and students were assessed pre- and post-implementation of IAEEP. Results: Total of 54 teachers and 67 secondary students participated in this study. The baseline AKA on epilepsy among Malaysian teachers was low in the awareness domain, moderate in the knowledge domain, and positive in the attitude domain. The baseline AKA on epilepsy among students was very low in the awareness domain, low in the knowledge domain, and indifferent in the attitude domain. The AKA scores in all domains of teachers and students improved significantly after introduction of IAEEP (P<0.001). Post-IAEEP the AKA of teachers was moderate in the awareness domain, high in the knowledge domain, and very positive in the attitude domain; the AKA of students was low in the awareness domain, very high in the knowledge domain, and very positive in the attitude domain Conclusion: Our findings highlight a need for epilepsy educational programmes to be implemented in Malaysian schools. The IAEEP is an effective educational programme to improve the AKA particularly in the knowledge domain among teachers and students
ABSTRACT
Background & Objective: Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is associated with immunosuppressive agents used in children with haemato-oncological diseases. There are no reports to date from the South Asia and South East Asia region. We report a Malaysian tertiary centre case series of children with haemato-oncological disease who developed PRES. Methods: Retrospective study of children seen with haemato-oncology diseases seen at the University Malaya Medical Centre Kuala Lumpur who developed PRES from 2011 – 2013. Clinical details were obtained from medical records and brain neuroimaging was reviewed. Results: Five patients met the inclusion criteria. All 5 patients had significant hypertension acutely or subacutely prior to neurology presentation. Four presented with acute seizures and the remainder 1 presented with encephalopathy.Three patients were on chemotherapy, 1 had renal impairment and 1 had prior immunosupression for bone marrow transplantation. A full recovery was seen in 4 patients and 1 patient had mild residual quadriplegia. Conclusion: Our case series expands the clinico-radiological spectrum of PRES in children with underlying haemato-oncological disorders. It is the first to show that prior cyclosporin intake as long as 2 months is a potential risk factor for PRES. Clinicians need to be vigilant for development of PRES and closely monitor the blood pressure in these children who are receiving or recently had immunosuppressive drugs and present with acute neurological symptoms.
Subject(s)
Posterior Leukoencephalopathy Syndrome , Brain DiseasesABSTRACT
This study presents two patients who developed anaphylaxis after eating mite-contaminated food, and also contains a survey of dust-mites contamination in flour samples from Singapore households. The clinical records of each patient was studied. Patient A developed anaphylaxis twenty minutes following the ingestion of home-made fried fish coated with Japanese flour, while Patient B developed similar life-threatening symptoms one hour after the ingestion of home baked scones. Both patients were NSAID-intolerant and had a history of allergic rhinitis. Skin prick tests showed a strong positive result for dust-mites and for extracts prepared from the ingested flour. Flour samples were also examined microscopically which revealed large numbers of live Dermatophagoides farinae dust-mites. A survey of 57 flour samples showed that 4 samples (7%) were contaminated with dust mites. The findings in the present study confirm that mite-contamination of flour exists in Singaporean households, and it may trigger anaphylaxis in susceptible individuals.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Anaphylaxis/etiology , Angioedema , Animals , Antigens, Dermatophagoides/immunology , Female , Flour , Food Contamination , Humans , Hypersensitivity/complications , Pyroglyphidae/immunology , Respiratory Sounds , Singapore , Skin Tests , UrticariaABSTRACT
The changes of leucocyte deformability (LD) and effects of PGMS and PSS on LD in patients with acute cerebral infarction (ACT) were observed. The results showed that leucocyte filtration index (IF) was higher significantly in patients with ACI than that in the normal control ( P