CT chest for COVID-19, a multicenter study—experience with 220 Egyptian patients

BackgroundCOVID-19 has become a national and an international pre-occupation to all doctors. Dealing with patients with clinical suspicion of COVID-19 is a daily markedly growing professional issue for radiologists. The number of COVID-19 cases we deal with is peaking since last March and so is our experience in recognizing the disease patterns and in assessing its severity. The purpose of this study is to assess the role of CT chest in the diagnosis of COVID-19 based on our experience with 220 Egyptian cases.ResultsA cross-sectional multicenter study involving 220 patients;68 (30.9%) females and 152 (69.1%) males, their age range was 10-92 years (average 49.198 years). Non-contrast MSCT chest was done to patients with clinically suspected COVID-19. Data assessment and analysis for lesions probability, pattern, localization, and severity were done.Bilateral affection was seen in 168/220 cases (76.36%). Multilobar affection was noted in 186/220 cases (84.54%). Lower lobes affection was noted in 179/220 cases (81.36%). Peripheral/subpleural affection was noted in 203/220 cases (92.27%). The common CT patterns (ground-glass opacities, consolidation, crazy paving, vascular thickening, traction bronchiectasis, vacuolar sign, architectural distortion signs, and reversed halo sign) and the uncommon CT patterns (halo sign, masses, nodules, lobar affection, tree in-bud-pattern and cysts) were discussed. Associated extra-pulmonary lesions described. Temporal changes, severity scoring, reporting, and possible pitfalls were all assessed.ConclusionIn our experience, CT plays a basic essential role in diagnosing COVID-19 in the current declared pandemic.

Novel 68Ga-FAPI PET/CT offers oncologic staging without COVID-19 vaccine-related pitfalls.

In the setting of ongoing SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, vaccine-related tracer uptake in locoregional lymph nodes has become a well-known issue in tumor staging by 18F-FDG PET/CT. 68Ga-FAPI PET/CT is a new oncologic imaging tool that may overcome this limitation. Methods: We assessed post-vaccine, head-to-head and same-day 18F-FDG and 68Ga-FAPI-46 PET/CT findings in a series of 11 patients from a large prospective imaging registry. All patients with documented tracer uptake in locoregional lymph nodes on PET/CT or PET/MRI, following vaccination within 6 weeks, were eligible for investigation. Result: Significant visual lymph node uptake adjacent to the injection site was noted in 11/11 (100%) patients with 18F-FDG PET/CT versus 0/11 (0%) with 68Ga-FAPI PET/CT. 18F-FDG detected 73% and 68Ga-FAPI PET/CT 94% of all tumor lesions. Conclusion: In this case-series study, 68Ga-FAPI showed its potential to avoid 18F-FDG-PET/CT post-vaccination pitfalls and presented superior tumor localization.

Performance Management and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Framework for an Agile Performance Management System for the South African Higher Education Institution

The main objective of this article is to shed some light on one of the burning questions in the South African university on how to manage people's performance in disruptive times. There is a shortage of scholarly work exploring PM during the COVID-19 in the university. Most of the extant studies examined PM before universities were forced to use Remote Emergency Teaching and Learning (RETL), the remote and hybrid work model. This article attempts to achieve its main objective by first re-examining the weaknesses of the traditional PM systems during disruptive times and developing an innovative performance management system to bridge the gap. An Agile performance management system framework for South African Higher Education Institution (HEI) was developed in light of the pitfalls of the PM systems and other relevant literature. The proposed Agile, Continuous Performance Management framework calls for an agile mind-set and the development of new competencies, which include manager-as-coach and compassionate leadership. This article is valuable as it does not only fill this gap by bringing together the pitfalls of PM during the COVID-19 in a South African HEI. It also calls for strategic change and reconceptualisation of PM to provide a strategic way forward.

Challenges and prospects of neurosurgical teleconsultations in a developing country: a reality check.

OBJECTIVE: The adoption of telemedicine became a necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic because patients found commuting to be difficult owing to travel restrictions. Initially, audio-based teleconsultations were provided. Later, on the basis of the feedback of patients and caregivers, the authors started to provide video-based teleconsultations via WhatsApp. The authors subsequently surveyed the patients and caregivers to determine their satisfaction levels with telemedicine services. METHODS: An anonymized telephone survey of patients who had participated in teleconsultation was conducted with a structured questionnaire. The responses were analyzed and their correlations with the perceived benefits and limitations of audio and video teleconsultation were determined. RESULTS: Three hundred respondents were included in the first round of surveys, of whom 250 (83.3%) consented to video teleconsultation. Among the respondents who participated in both audio and video teleconsultations (n = 250), paired analysis showed that video teleconsultation was perceived as better in terms of providing easier access to healthcare services (p < 0.001), saving time (p < 0.001), and satisfaction with the way patient needs were conveyed to healthcare providers (p = 0.023), as well as in terms of adequacy of addressing healthcare needs (p < 0.001) and consequently providing a higher rate of overall satisfaction (p < 0.001). For both audio and video teleconsultation, overall patient satisfaction was significantly related to only previous exposure to WhatsApp. However, for video consultation, longer call duration (p = 0.023) was an important independent factor. Video teleconsultation was preferable to face-to-face consultation irrespective of educational status, but higher education was associated with preference for video teleconsultation. CONCLUSIONS: Both audio and video teleconsultation are viable cost-effective surrogates for in-person physical neurosurgical consultation. Although audio teleconsultation is more user-friendly and is not restricted by educational status, video teleconsultation trumps the former owing to a more efficient and satisfactory doctor-to-patient interface.

Pitfalls of Social Media in the Era of COVID-19 Pandemics.

In December 2019, Wuhan, China, reported an outbreak of nSARS-CoV2 that caused viral pneumonia, COVID-19. Li Wenliang, a Chinese ophthalmologist, first communicated on Chinese social media about the existence and spread of the unknown viral pneumonia in Wuhan, China. By the end of March 2020, the virus had spread worldwide. However, non-scientific information related to the viral outbreak, disease, and mortality spread even faster on social media. This study performed literature searches among different databases, i.e., PubMed, PubMed Central, and Web of Science, to understand the pitfall of social media during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of non-scientific information on public health. Social media not only shared information regarding the outbreak of nSARS-CoV2 and COVID-19 disease but also misinformation regarding epidemiology, government policies, prevention, cure, and vaccination. Thus, strict regulation is required to control the spread of misleading information.

PET/CT variants and pitfalls in malignant melanoma.

18F-FDG PET/CT plays an increasingly pivotal role in the staging and post-treatment monitoring of high-risk melanoma patients, augmented by the introduction of therapies, including tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), that have novel modes of action that challenge conventional response assessment. Simultaneously, technological advances have been regularly released, including advanced reconstruction algorithms, digital PET and motion correction, which have allowed the PET community to detect ever-smaller cancer lesions, improving diagnostic performance in the context of indications previously viewed as limitations, such as detection of in-transit disease and confirmation of the nature of small pulmonary metastases apparent on CT.This review will provide advice regarding melanoma-related PET protocols and will focus on variants encountered during the imaging of melanoma patients. Emphasis will be made on pitfalls related to non-malignant diseases and treatment-related findings that may confound accurate interpretation unless recognized. The latter include signs of immune activation and immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Technology-related pitfalls are also discussed, since while new PET technologies improve detection of small lesions, these may also induce false-positive cases and require a learning curve to be observed. In these times of the COVID 19 pandemic, cases illustrating lessons learned from COVID 19 or vaccination-related pitfalls will also be described.

Diagnostic Pitfalls of Digital Microscopy Versus Light Microscopy in Gastrointestinal Pathology: A Systematic Review.

Digital microscopy (DM) is one of the cutting-edge advances in pathology, which entails improved efficiency, diagnostic advantages, and potential application in virtual diagnosis, particularly in the current era of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. However, the diagnostic challenges are the remaining concerns for its wider adoption by pathologists, and these concerns should be addressed in a specific subspecialty. We aim to identify the common diagnostic pitfalls of whole slide imaging (WSI), one modality of DM, in gastrointestinal (GI) pathology. From validating studies of primary diagnosis performance, we included 16 records with features on GI cases involved, at least two weeks wash-out periods, and more than 60 case study designs. A tailored quality appraisal assessment was utilized to evaluate the risks of bias for these diagnostic accuracy studies. Furthermore, due to the highly heterogeneous studies and unstandardized definition of discordance, we extract the discordant cases in GI pathology and calculate the discrepant rate, resulting from 0.5% to 64.28%. Targeting discrepancy cases between digital microscopy and light microscopy, we demonstrate five main diagnostic pitfalls regarding WSI as follows: additional time to review slides in WSI, hard to identify dysplasia nucleus, missed organisms like Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), specific cell recognitions, and technical issues. After detailed reviews and analysis, we generate two essential suggestions for further GI cases signing out by DM. One is to use systematized 20x scans for diagnostic workouts and requesting 40x or even 60x scans for challenging cases; another is that a high-volume slides training should be set before the real clinical application of WSI for primary diagnosis, particularly in GI pathology.

The next-generation coronavirus diagnostic techniques with particular emphasis on the SARS-CoV-2.

The potential zoonotic coronaviruses (SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2) are of global health concerns. Early diagnosis is the milestone in their mitigation, control, and eradication. Many diagnostic techniques are showing great success and have many advantages, such as the rapid turnover of the results, high accuracy, and high specificity and sensitivity. However, some of these techniques have several pitfalls if samples were not collected, processed, and transported in the standard ways and if these techniques were not practiced with extreme caution and precision. This may lead to false-negative/positive results. This may affect the downstream management of the affected cases. These techniques require regular fine-tuning, upgrading, and optimization. The continuous evolution of new strains and viruses belong to the coronaviruses is hampering the success of many classical techniques. There are urgent needs for next generations of coronaviruses diagnostic assays that overcome these pitfalls. This new generation of diagnostic tests should be able to do simultaneous, multiplex, and high-throughput detection of various coronavirus in one reaction. Furthermore, the development of novel assays and techniques that enable the in situ detection of the virus on the environmental samples, especially air, water, and surfaces, should be given considerable attention in the future. These approaches will have a substantial positive impact on the mitigation and eradication of coronaviruses, including the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.