The roles of lncRNAs and miRNAs in pancreatic cancer: a focus on cancer development and progression and their roles as potential biomarkers.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is among the most penetrative malignancies affecting humans, with mounting incidence prevalence worldwide. This cancer is usually not diagnosed in the early stages. There is also no effective therapy against PDAC, and most patients have chemo-resistance. The combination of these factors causes PDAC to have a poor prognosis, and often patients do not live longer than six months. Because of the failure of conventional therapies, the identification of key biomarkers is crucial in the early diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of pancreatic cancer. 65% of the human genome encodes ncRNAs. There are different types of ncRNAs that are classified based on their sequence lengths and functions. They play a vital role in replication, transcription, translation, and epigenetic regulation. They also participate in some cellular processes, such as proliferation, differentiation, metabolism, and apoptosis. The roles of ncRNAs as tumor suppressors or oncogenes in the growth of tumors in a variety of tissues, including the pancreas, have been demonstrated in several studies. This study discusses the key roles of some lncRNAs and miRNAs in the growth and advancement of pancreatic carcinoma. Because they are involved not only in the premature identification, chemo-resistance and prognostication, also their roles as potential biomarkers for better management of PDAC patients.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on trauma mortality patients: A retrospective observational study in an Iranian level 1 trauma center.

Background and Aims: The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the epidemiology of various clinical conditions, including trauma which is closely tied to social policies. This study examines and compares the characteristics of trauma mortality patients, and their initial prognostic trauma scores, in the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods. Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study involving patients who passed away at a level 1 trauma center from July 23, 2018, to February 19, 2020 (prepandemic), and from February 20, 2020, to September 22, 2021 (pandemic). A subgroup analysis that matched 12 of the same months of the year in the two periods was also done. Patients who arrived deceased or passed away immediately upon arrival were excluded from data analysis. We collected and analyzed demographic and clinical data, employing the Abbreviated Injury Score (AIS), Injury Severity Score (ISS), Revised Trauma Score (RTS), and Trauma and ISS (TRISS) to compare initial prognoses. Results: Our study encompassed 1128 patients, with 529 in the prepandemic group and 599 in the pandemic group. Demographic characteristics showed no significant differences in the number of patients in the two periods. Motor vehicle accidents remained the predominant injury mechanism in both periods. While the mean ISS increased insignificantly (22.80 vs. 22.91, p = 0.902), the mean RTS decreased (6.32 vs. 5.82), and TRISS increased (23.97% vs. 28.93%) during the pandemic (p < 0.05). Hospital length of stay decreased in the pandemic period (15.57 vs. 12.54 days, p < 0.05). Subgroup analysis revealed increased ISS, decreased RTS, and increased TRISS during the pandemic (p < 0.05). Conclusion: In conclusion, while overall demographics and injury mechanisms remained virtually unchanged, trauma patients during the pandemic displayed worse estimated clinical prognoses, particularly in physiological trauma scores. The heightened mortality rate was attributed to poorer clinical conditions of patients.

Investigating the prevalence of and predictive and risk factors for pulmonary embolism in patients with COVID-19 in Nemazee Teaching Hospital.

Background: Pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) is a significant contributing factor to vascular diseases. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of pulmonary thromboembolism and its predisposing factors in patients with COVID-19. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 284 patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to Nemazee Teaching Hospital (Shiraz, Iran) between June and August 2021. All patients were diagnosed with COVID-19 by a physician based on clinical symptoms or positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results. The collected data included demographic data and laboratory findings. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software. P≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: There was a significant difference in the mean age between the PTE group and non-PTE group (P=0.037). Moreover, the PTE group had a significantly higher prevalence of hypertension (36.7% vs. 21.8%, P=0.019), myocardial infarction (4.5% vs. 0%, P=0.006), and stroke (23.9% vs. 4.9%, P=0.0001). Direct bilirubin (P=0.03) and albumin (P=0.04) levels significantly differed between the PTE and non-PTE groups. Notably, there was a significant difference in the partial thromboplastin time (P=0.04) between the PTE and non-PTE groups. A regression analysis indicated that age (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.00‒1.004; P=0.005), blood pressure (OR, 2.07; 95% CI, 1.12‒3.85; P=0.02), heart attack (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.28‒6.06; P=0.009), and albumin level (OR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.16‒0.97; P=0.04) were all independent predictors of PTE development. Conclusion: Regression analysis revealed that age, blood pressure, heart attack, and albumin levels were independent predictors of PTE.

The promising shadow of microbubble over medical sciences: from fighting wide scope of prevalence disease to cancer eradication.

Microbubbles are typically 0.5-10 µm in size. Their size tends to make it easier for medication delivery mechanisms to navigate the body by allowing them to be swallowed more easily. The gas included in the microbubble is surrounded by a membrane that may consist of biocompatible biopolymers, polymers, surfactants, proteins, lipids, or a combination thereof. One of the most effective implementation techniques for tiny bubbles is to apply them as a drug carrier that has the potential to activate ultrasound (US); this allows the drug to be released by US. Microbubbles are often designed to preserve and secure medicines or substances before they have reached a certain area of concern and, finally, US is used to disintegrate microbubbles, triggering site-specific leakage/release of biologically active drugs. They have excellent therapeutic potential in a wide range of common diseases. In this article, we discussed microbubbles and their advantageous medicinal uses in the treatment of certain prevalent disorders, including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetic condition, renal defects, and finally, their use in the treatment of various forms of cancer as well as their incorporation with nanoparticles. Using microbubble technology as a novel carrier, the ability to prevent and eradicate prevalent diseases has strengthened the promise of effective care to improve patient well-being and life expectancy.

A Comparative Study of Injury Severity Scales as Predictors of Mortality in Trauma Patients: Which Scale Is the Best?

OBJECTIVE: To compare the injury severity scales as predictors of mortality in trauma patients to search for the best scale. METHODS: In a prospective cohort study and systematical random sampling conducted from March to September 2017, trauma patients over the age of 13 years were enrolled. The investigated variables were age, gender, systolic blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, injured body region, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), injury severity score (ISS), revised trauma score (RTS), trauma injury severity score (TRISS) and the outcome. RESULTS: Totally, 1410 trauma patients were followed up, out of which 68.5% were male. The participants' mean age was 43.5±20.88 years. After adjusting the confounding effects, age over 60 years (OR=7.38, CI [3.91-13.93]), GCS<8 (OR=6.5, CI [2.38-18.16]), RTS<7.6 (OR=6.04, CI [2-13.7]), and TRISS<0.9 (OR=3.09, CI [1.39-6.88]) were determined as the most significant predictor variables for in-hospital mortality. The results of Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve revealed that TRISS had the highest area under the curve in comparison to other tests that were evaluated. Furthermore, TRISS had the highest sensitivity and specificity for scores higher than 96.15. By contrast, the sensitivity and specificity of GCS decreased for scores higher than 5.5. CONCLUSION: Our results showed that TRISS, RTS, GCS, and ISS were all very effective approaches for evaluating prognosis, mortality and probable complications in trauma patients; thus, these systems of injury evaluation and scoring are recommended to facilitate treatment. TRISS, RTS, and ISS had almost the same sensitivity that was higher than GCS, but GCS had the most specificity. Finally, TRISS was selected as the most efficient scale for predicting mortality.

Analysis of Risk Factors with Hospital Mortality in Pedestrian Injured Patients; A Dataset Analysis of a Level-I Trauma Center in Southern Iran.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the indicators predicting the hospital mortality in pedestrian injured patients admitted to a level I trauma center in Southern Iran. METHODS: This case control study was conducted in a Level-I trauma hospital in Shiraz. We selected all survived pedestrians who were admitted in the hospital with duration of admission more than 24 hours in one year from March 2016 to February 2017 as control group and compared with all non-survived pedestrian patients who expired in the hospital according to clinical from March 2012 to February 2017. Multiple logistic regression was performed to identify factors of hospital effect on pedestrian mortality and results expressed by Odds Ratios and their confidence intervals (CI) of 95%. RESULTS: A total of 424 survived pedestrian injured patients were compare to 117 non-survived one. Their mean of survived and non-survived patients were 43.79 ± 19.37 and 56.76 ± 18.55 years respectively of which 361 (66.7%) and 180 (33.3%) were men and women, respectively. We found that the gender does not have any relation with hospital mortality (p=0.275). Followed by, age is in relevance with mortality. Glasgow Coma Scale(GCS), Injury Severity Score (ISS), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), platelet (PLT), potassium (K) and hemoglobin (Hb) are significant factor which are associated with mortality. According to logistic analysis GCS ≤8 (p<0.001), low hemoglobin level <9 (p=0.030), BUN >24 (p<0.001), thrombocytopenia <150,000 (p<0.001), and hypokalemia <3.5 (p=0.01) were independently associated with hospital mortality. Among them, GCS≤8 was 72.237 times more likely to be associated with hospital mortality (OR =72.24, CI95% =23.19- 225.05). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that GCS score, ISS, hemoglobin level, platelet count, BUN and potassium level might be independent factors associated with hospital mortality in pedestrian injured patients.

Effect of repetitive feedback on residents' communication skills improvement.

To evaluate the effect of frequent feedback on residents' communication skills as measured by a standardized checklist. Five medical students were recruited in order to assess twelve emergency medicine residents' communication skills during a one-year period. Students employed a modified checklist based on Calgary-Cambridge observation guide. The checklist was designed by faculty members of Tehran University of Medical Science, used for assessment of students' communication skills. 24 items from 71 items of observational guide were selected, considering study setting and objects. Every two months an expert faculty, based on descriptive results of observation, gave structured feedback to each resident during a 15-minute private session. Total mean score for baseline observation standing at 20.58 was increased significantly to 28.75 after feedbacks. Results markedly improved on "gathering information" (T1=5.5, T6=8.33, P=0.001), "building relationship" (T1=1.5, T6=4.25, P<0.001) and "closing the session" (T1=0.75, T6=2.5, P=0.001) and it mildly dropped on "understanding patients view" (T1=3, T6=2.33, P=0.007) and "providing structure" (T1=4.17, T6=4.00, P=0.034). Changes in result of "initiating the session" and "explanation and planning" dimensions are not statically significant (P=0.159, P=0.415 respectively). Frequent feedback provided by faculty member can improve residents' communication skills. Feedback can affect communication skills educational programs, and it can be more effective if it is combined with other educational methods.

Comparing diagnostic accuracy of bedside ultrasound and radiography for bone fracture screening in multiple trauma patients at the ED.

INTRODUCTION: Long bone fractures are currently diagnosed using radiography, but radiography has some disadvantages (radiation and being time consuming). The present study compared the diagnostic accuracy of bedside ultrasound and radiography in multiple trauma patients at the emergency department (ED). METHOD: The study assessed 80 injured patients with multiple trauma from February 2011 to July 2012. The patients were older than 18 years and triaged to the cardiopulmonary resuscitation ward of the ED. Bedside ultrasound and radiography were conducted for them. The findings were separately and blindly assessed by 2 radiologists. Sensitivity, specificity, the positive and negative predictive value, and κ coefficient were measured to assess the accuracy and validity of ultrasound as compared with radiography. RESULTS: The sensitivity of ultrasound for diagnosis of limb bone fractures was not high enough and ranged between 55% and 75% depending on the fracture site. The specificity of this diagnostic method had an acceptable range of 62% to 84%. Ultrasound negative prediction value was higher than other indices under study and ranged between 73% and 83%, but its positive prediction value varied between 33.3% and 71%. The κ coefficient for diagnosis of long bone fractures of upper limb (κ = 0.58) and upper limb joints (κ = 0.47) and long bones of lower limb (κ = 0.52) was within the medium range. However, the value for diagnosing fractures of lower limb joints (κ = 0.47) was relatively low. CONCLUSION: Bedside ultrasound is not a reliable method for diagnosing fractures of upper and lower limb bones compared with radiography.

Improving the prediction of stroke or death after transient ischemic attack (TIA) by adding diffusion-weighted imaging lesions and TIA etiology to the ABCD2 score.

The present study investigated the addition of transient ischemic attack (TIA) etiology and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) to the ABCD2 score, creating the ABCDE+ score, to improve the predictive ability of stroke risk or death at 6 months after TIA. We performed a cohort study of 150 consecutive patients with TIA. All patients underwent DWI and all had an etiologic workup and were followed up for 6 months. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to compare the scores' ability to predict the outcome of stroke or death. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association between the measured variables and subsequent stroke or death. Thirty patients (20%) experienced future stroke, and 12 patients (8%) died within the 6-month follow-up. A comparison of AUCs demonstrated the superiority of the ABCDE+ score over the ABCD2 score for predicting stroke (0.64 vs 0.60) and for predicting death (0.62 vs 0.56). ABCD2 score >4, ABCDE+ score >6, large-artery disease, and lesions detected on DWI were found to be independent predictors of future stroke, and ABCDE+ score >6, age, and heart disease were independent predictors of death. We conclude that incorporating DWI positivity and etiology of TIA into the ABCD2 score can improve the ability to predict stroke and death within 6 months after TIA.

A comparison of verapamil and digoxin for heart rate control in atrial fibrillation.

PURPOSE: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most common types of sustained dysrhythmia and there are some disagreements about its treatment. The goals of AF treatment include the control of ventricular rate, the establishment of sinus rhythm and the prevention of thromboembolic events. In this study, the effect of verapamil was compared to digoxin on heart rate control in patients with AF. METHODS: This descriptive study was conducted in an emergency department (ED) in Iran. Sixty patients with a new onset AF and rapid ventricular response receiving digoxin or verapamil were included and observed. RESULTS: Two thirty-patient groups receiving verapamil or digoxin were evaluated. The heart rate was significantly decreased in both groups (p = 0.002); however, the cardioversion was not noticed in both of them. The best rate control in verapamil and digoxin groups was observed after 5.9 mg (46.7%) and 0.6 mg (36.7%), respectively. CONCLUSION: Administration of verapamil in comparison with digoxin has no difference to control the heart rate in AF patients. It should be taken into consideration that prospective randomized studies should be conducted to identify the efficacy and select the best of these two drugs to treat AF patients.