Lung ultrasound and computed tomographic findings in pregnant woman with COVID-19.

Imaging modalities play a crucial role in the management of suspected COVID-19 patients. Before reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results are positive, 60-93% of patients have positive chest computed tomographic (CT) findings consistent with COVID-19. We report a case of positive lung ultrasound findings consistent with COVID-19 in a woman with an initially negative RT-PCR result. The lung ultrasound-imaging findings were present between the negative and subsequent positive RT-PCR tests and correlated with CT findings. The point-of-care lung-ultrasound examination was easy to perform and, as such, could play an important role in the triage of women with suspected COVID-19. The neonatal swabs, cord blood and placental swab RT-PCR tests were negative for SARS-CoV-2, a finding consistent with the published literature suggesting no vertical transmission of this virus in pregnant women. Copyright © 2020 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

No effect of GA-AS (904 nm) laser irradiation on the intact skin of the injured rat sciatic nerve.

We evaluated the electrophysiological and histopathological effects of low-energy gallium arsenide (904 nm) laser irradiation on the intact skin injured rat sciatic nerve. Twenty-four male Wistar rats were divided into three groups ( n=8 each). At the level of proximal third of the femur the sciatic nerve was crushed bilaterally with an aneurysm clip (Aesculap FE 751, Tuttingen, Germany) for half a second. A gallium arsenide laser (wavelength 904 nm, pulse duration 220 ns, peak power per pulse 27 W, spot size 0.28 cm2, pulse repetition rate 16, 128 and 1000 Hz; total applied energy density 0.31, 2.48 and 19 J/cm2) was applied to the right sciatic nerve for 15 min daily at the same time on 7 consecutive days. The same procedure was performed on the left sciatic nerve of same animal, but without radiation emission, and this was accepted as control. Compound muscle action potentials were recorded from right and left sides in all three groups before surgery, just at the end of injury, at the 24th hour and on the 14th and 21st days of injury in all rats using a BIOPAC MP 100 Acquisition System Version 3.5.7 (Santa Barbara, USA). BIOPAC Acknowledge Analysis Software (ACK 100 W) was used to measure CMAP amplitude, area, proximal and distal latency, total duration and conduction velocity. Twenty-one days after injury, the rats were sacrificed. The sciatic nerves of the operated parts were harvested from the right and left sides. Histopathological evaluation was performed by light microscopy. Statistical evaluation was done using analysis of variance for two factors (right and left sides) repeated-measures (CMAP variables within groups) and the Tukey-Kramer Honestly Significant Difference test (CMAP variables between laser groups). The significance was set at p < 0.05. No statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) was found regarding the amplitude, area, duration and conduction velocity of CMAP for each applied dose (0.31, 2.48 and 19 J/cm2) on the irradiated (right) side and the control (left) side, or between irradiated groups. Twenty-one days after injury there were no qualitative differences in the morphological pattern of the regenerated nerve fibres in either irradiated (0.31, 2.48 and 19 J/cm2) or control nerves when evaluated by light microscopy. This study showed that low-energy GaAs irradiation did not have any effect on the injured rat sciatic nerve.

Lumbar and femoral bone mineral density in type 2 Turkish diabetic patients.

The relationship between type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis has not been well established. We studied a population composed of 161 post-menopausal women with type 2 diabetes and a control group. We examined bone mineral density with the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry(DXA) technique at the lumbar and femoral regions and in a subgroup of patients, we also measured the levels of markers of bone remodelling. We found significantly higher levels of bone mineral density at the lumbar and femoral levels in the diabetic subjects compared with the control group. Moreover, we found higher level of urinary calcium in the controls. On the basis of these results, we suggest that osteoporosis cannot be considered a complication of type 2 diabetes.