Severe and Life-Threatening Paroxysmal Laryngospasm: Uncommon Presentation of COVID-19.

Introduction: Laryngospasm is a life-threatening condition caused due to involuntary contraction in laryngeal muscles. It can last seconds to minutes and may cause hypoxemia, loss of consciousness, and death. Case Presentation: We report a case of laryngospasm in a patient with Coronavirus-2 infection who was admitted to the emergency department for the first time. Laryngospasm was revealed after treatment. Conclusions: The clinician should note that laryngospasm can be triggered by Coronavirus-2 infection.

Effects of Fentanyl Versus Remifentanil Pretreatment on the QTc Interval in Patients Undergoing Rapid Sequence Intubation: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: One of the complications of laryngoscopy is cardiac dysrhythmia due to an increased QT interval. Objectives: This study aimed to compare the effect of fentanyl and remifentanil on QTc interval in patients undergoing intubation by the rapid method in 2020. Methods: In this study, 50 patients without a history of heart disease and without a history of drug use who were candidates for rapid intubation in the emergency department were selected and divided into two groups. Before the injection of intubation drugs, a baseline ECG was obtained from the patient and then randomly assigned to one group of patients with 2 µg/kg fentanyl and the other group with 1 µg/kg remifentanil. Other intubation drugs, including lidocaine, etomidate, and succinylcholine, were fixed in both groups. Immediately after drug injection and immediately after laryngoscopy, ECG was prepared from patients, and the QT interval was calculated. Results: In group comparison, changes in QT values during the studied time were statistically significant (P = 0.004). However, in the comparison between groups, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups receiving fentanyl and remifentanil (P = 0.235). The results showed that the rate of QT interval changes during three different measurements increased in both groups of patients receiving fentanyl and remifentanil. Conclusions: In the present study, in comparing the QT interval, there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups receiving fentanyl and remifentanil at any of the studied times. Therefore, fentanyl and remifentanil during endotracheal intubation did not have a statistically and clinically significant effect on the QT distance of patients' ECG, and the administration of the above two drugs during intubation was safe.

Flow Cytometry of CD64, HLA-DR, CD25, and TLRs for Diagnosis and Prognosis of Sepsis in Critically Ill Patients Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit: A Review Article.

Sepsis is an important health problem with a high burden on health systems. Finding new aspects of immune system function in sepsis showed a new role for flow cytometry in the diagnosis of sepsis. We made a review on the role of CD64, HLA-DR, CD25, and TLRs as more useful flow cytometric tools in diagnosing sepsis, both in adults, and neonates. According to our results, we concluded that for diagnosis and treatment of the septic, flow cytometry can play an important role so that it can be used as a novel method in individualized treatment of septic patients based on their immune system situation.

Cost-effectiveness of cardiac biomarkers as screening test in acute chest pain.

INTRODUCTION: Acute chest pain is an important and frequently occurring symptom in patients. Chest pain is often a sign of ischemic heart disease. Associated findings of electrocardiograph (ECG) are rather heterogeneous, and traditional cardiac biomarkers such as Creatine Kinase-MB (CK-MB) suffer from low cardiac specificity and sensitivity. In this study cost effectiveness of cardiac biomarkers single quantitative measurement was examined. METHODS: The present descriptive-analytic study conducted on patients who were asked for troponin I and CK-MB. All patients who referred to Emergency unit of Tabriz Imam Reza educational-medical center during January 2012 to July the 2013 were included in study. All patients included in the study were documented in terms of age, sex, working shift of referring, main complaint of patient, symptoms in referring, ECG findings, and results of troponin I and CK-MB tests. RESULTS: In this study, 2900 patients were studied including 1440 (49.7%) males and 1460 (50.3%) females. Mean age of patients was 62.91 (SD=14.36). Of all patients 1880 (64.8%) of patients referred during 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and 1020 (35.2%) patients were referred during 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. The sensitivity of cardiac biomarkers' test in diagnosing Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) disease was calculated as 44.8% and its specificity was 86.6%. For diagnosing Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI), sensitivity of cardiac biomarkers' test was 72.2% and its specificity was 86%. None of patients who were finally underwent unstable angina diagnosis showed increase in cardiac enzymes. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, cardiac biomarkers can be used for screening acute chest pains, also cost effectiveness of cardiac biomarkers, appropriate specificity and sensitivity can guarantee their usefulness in emergency room.