Investigation of hematologic findings related to brucellosis in Anatolian region.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence of hematologic findings and the relationship between hemogram parameters and brucellosis stages in patients. METHODS: This multi-center study included patients older than 16 years of age who were followed up with a diagnosis of brucellosis. Patients' results, including white blood cell, hemoglobin, neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, mean platelet volume, platelet and eosinophil counts were analyzed at the initial diagnosis. RESULTS: In this study 51.3% of the patients diagnosed with brucellosis were male. The age median was 45 years for female and 41 years for male. A total of 55.1% of the patients had acute brucellosis, 28.2% had subacute, 7.4% had chronic and 9% had relapse. The most common hematologic findings in brucellosis patients were anemia (25.9%), monocytosis (15.9%), eosinopenia (10.3%), and leukocytosis (7.1%). Pancytopenia occurred in 0.8% of patients and was more prominent in the acute phase. The acute brucellosis group had lower white blood cell, hemoglobin, neutrophil, eosinophil, and platelet counts and mean platelet volume, and higher monocyte counts compared to subacute and chronic subgroups. CONCLUSION: It was noteworthy that in addition to anemia and monocytosis, eosinopenia was third most prominent laboratory findings in the study. Pancytopenia and thrombocytopenia rates were low.

Evaluation of Serum Ischemia Modified Albumin in Patients With COVID-19 Pneumonia: A Case-Control Study.

INTRODUCTION: Various biomarkers are used when evaluating the hospitalization needs of patients diagnosed with Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) is a biomarker that causes blood levels to increase as a result of hypoxia and acidosis. We think that an increase in IMA in the blood may be caused by hypoxia stemming from lung damage. This study aimed to compare the mean/median of the blood IMA value in patients with pneumonia due to COVID-19 infection with a control group. METHODS: The case group included patients with COVID-19 pneumonia detected by lung imaging and a positive COVID test. Demographic information of the case group, the severity of pneumonia, and their PCR test results were recorded in the data set. FINDINGS: A total of 150 people, 90 of whom were in the case group and 60 of whom were in the control group, participated in the study. No statistically significant differences were found between the blood IMA levels of the case group and the control group. When the blood IMA levels of the case group were compared according to pneumonia severity, no statistically significant differences were found between the mild-moderate and severe pneumonia groups. CONCLUSION: Blood IMA levels are not a diagnostic biomarker for patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and are not helpful in predicting the severity of pneumonia.

Evaluation of thorax computed tomographic findings in COVID-19 variant cases.

BACKGROUND: Because of genetic mutations occurring during viral replication, new SARS-CoV-2 variants will continue to emerge. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, thorax computed tomographic (CT) findings have played a crucial role in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with COVID-19. In this study, we compared the thorax CT findings of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 variants (variant group) with those of patients infected with the non-variant strain (non-variant group) to assess if thorax CT findings may be utilized to discriminate between the groups. Furthermore, we compared demographic and laboratory data between the groups. METHODS: The study comprised a total of 77 patients who presented to our hospital with a preliminary diagnosis of COVID-19 based on clinical symptoms, a positive oropharyngeal/nasopharyngeal swab RT-PCR testing, and thorax CT examinations. Patients' laboratory and demographic features as well as thorax CT findings were retrospectively evaluated, and the results were grouped according to RT-PCR results. RESULTS: There were 42 patients in the non-variant group and 35 patients in the variant group. The average age of patients infected with the non-variant strain, alpha variant, and gamma variant was 63.52 ± 14.87 years, 54.86 ± 14.31 years, and 59.4 ± 17.79 years, respectively. The average age of the variant group was significantly lower than that of the non-variant group. There was no significant difference in thorax CT findings between the groups, and consolidation, ground glass densities, and cobblestone pattern in the bilateral lower lobes and peripheral areas were the most common thorax CT findings in both the groups. CONCLUSION: There is no significant difference in thorax CT findings between the variant and non-variant groups. Therefore, clinical and laboratory characteristics should take precedence over thorax CT findings for distinguishing between patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 variants and the non-variant strain.