Contrast­induced acute kidney injury in COVID-19 patients.

METHODS: Forty-two COVID-19 patients who underwent emergency PCI due to the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome were included in the study. Mean age was 63±14.76 and males accounted for 81 % (34/42). Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) was defined as absolute increase in serum creatinine level by 0.3 mg/dL above baseline within 48 hours of contrast exposure. Patients were divided into two groups according to CI-AKI development following coronary angiography. RESULTS: CI-AKI developed in 33.3 % (14/42) of the patients. Pre-procedure e-GFR (p=0.028), serum albumin levels (p=0.021), and ejection fraction (p=0.039) were lower in the CI-AKI group. Whereas the platelet/lymphocyte ratio was significantly lower in the non-CI-AKI group (p=0.010). CONCLUSIONS: Our study results demonstrated that patients suffering from COVID-19 had a high risk of CI-AKI development following coronary angiography (Tab. 1, Ref. 36).

Cytopathology of pericardial effusions : Experience from a tertiary center of cardiology.

BACKGROUND: Pericardial effusion (PE) is a common clinical condition that can develop as a result of systemic or cardiac diseases. Here, we report the results of cytology for patients who underwent pericardiocentesis for PE. METHODS: The study comprised 283 patients who underwent primary percutaneous pericardiocentesis between 2007 and 2016. The mean age of the patients was 60.0 ± 16.6 years; 162 (57.2%) were male and 121 (42.8%) were female. The presence of reactive mesothelial cells, acute and chronic inflammatory cells, and/or blood without evidence of malignant cells was considered as benign. The presence of malignant cells with/without reactive mesothelial cells, inflammatory cells, and/or blood was considered as malignant. RESULTS: The vast majority of PE specimens (219 cases; 77.4%) were classified as benign. Only 20 cases (7.1%) were classified as atypical, and malignant cells were present in the PE specimens of 44 cases (15.5%). The most common diagnosis was benign PE. The most commonly encountered malignancy was lung cancer. The rate of malignancy was 1.9% in the serous group and 24% in the hemorrhagic group, which was statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Benign PE was the most frequent cytological diagnosis in our study. Chronic nonspecific pericarditis was the most frequent type of pericarditis in the benign PE group, while lung adenocarcinoma was the most frequent malignancy in the malignant PE group. The rate of malignancy was significantly higher in the hemorrhagic group than in the serous group.