EJIFCC Pub Date : 2021-12-07 eCollection Date: 2021-12-01

引用次数: 0

Ups and Downs of COVID-19: Can We Predict the Future? Local Analysis with Google Trends for Forecasting the Burden of COVID-19 in Pakistan. 2019冠状病毒病的起起落落:我们能预测未来吗?利用谷歌趋势预测巴基斯坦COVID-19负担的本地分析。

EJIFCC Pub Date : 2021-12-07 eCollection Date: 2021-12-01

Sibtain Ahmed, Muhammad Abbas Abid, Maria Helena Santos de Oliveira, Zeeshan Ansar Ahmed, Ayra Siddiqui, Imran Siddiqui, Lena Jafri, Giuseppe Lippi

{"title":"Ups and Downs of COVID-19: Can We Predict the Future? Local Analysis with Google Trends for Forecasting the Burden of COVID-19 in Pakistan.","authors":"Sibtain Ahmed, Muhammad Abbas Abid, Maria Helena Santos de Oliveira, Zeeshan Ansar Ahmed, Ayra Siddiqui, Imran Siddiqui, Lena Jafri, Giuseppe Lippi","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"Background: We aim to study the utility of Google Trends search history data for demonstrating if a correlation may exist between web-based information and actual coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, as well as if such data can be used to forecast patterns of disease spikes.Patients & methods: Weekly data of COVID-19 cases in Pakistan was retrieved from online COVID-19 data banks for a period of 60 weeks. Search history related to COVID-19, coronavirus and the most common symptoms of disease was retrieved from Google Trends during the same period. Statistical analysis was performed to analyze the correlation between the two data sets. Search terms were adjusted for time-lag over weeks, to find the highest cross-correlation for each of the search terms.Results: Search terms of 'fever' and 'cough' were the most commonly searched online, followed by coronavirus and COVID. The highest peak correlations with the weekly case series, with a 1-week backlog, was noted for loss of smell and loss of taste. The combined model yielded a modest performance for forecasting positive cases. The linear regression model revealed loss of smell (adjusted R2 of 0.7) with significant 1-week, 2-week and 3-week lagged time series, as the best predictor of weekly positive case counts.Conclusions: Our local analysis of Pakistan-based data seemingly confirms that Google trends can be used as an important tool for anticipating and predicting pandemic patterns and pre-hand preparedness in such unprecedented pandemic crisis.","PeriodicalId":193105,"journal":{"name":"EJIFCC","volume":"32 4","pages":"421-431"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/b3/ce/ejifcc-32-421.PMC8751396.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39833980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Is it True Hypoparathyroidism? A Root Cause Analysis of Unusually Low Intact Parathyroid Hormone (iPTH) at a Clinical Laboratory. 甲状旁腺功能减退症是真的吗?临床实验室异常低完整甲状旁腺激素(iPTH)的根本原因分析。

EJIFCC Pub Date : 2021-12-07 eCollection Date: 2021-12-01

Sibtain Ahmed, Lena Jafri, Syed Muhammad Akhtar Shah, Nasreen Bano, Imran Siddiqui

{"title":"Is it True Hypoparathyroidism? A Root Cause Analysis of Unusually Low Intact Parathyroid Hormone (iPTH) at a Clinical Laboratory.","authors":"Sibtain Ahmed, Lena Jafri, Syed Muhammad Akhtar Shah, Nasreen Bano, Imran Siddiqui","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: Intact Parathyroid Hormone (iPTH) has a short half-life i.e. two to four minutes therefore the sampling regimen has to pass through a stringent pre-analytical process control. The aim of this study was to identify the causes of apparently falsely low iPTH encountered while signing out Laboratory reports by the Clinical Chemistry professionals.Material and methods: This report was conducted at the section of Clinical Chemistry, The Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) Karachi Pakistan from July to December 2017. Audit tool utilized was Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle. After correlating with available clinical details and lab parameters, all low iPTH values (<16 pg/ml) were investigated by phone interview. A fresh sample was requested for non-correlating cases.Appropriate interventions were undertaken and a re-assessment was done from January to March 2018.Results: During the audit, 2559 iPTH samples were analyzed. 110 (4.3%) were identified as apparently falsely low. After recollection, the above 110 samples were immediately centrifuged, and cold chain maintained until re-analysis. 60 (2.4%) resulted with normal or elevated levels. The causes identified were poor compliance of staff with pre-analytical steps including delayed sample separation and unfavorable temperature chain maintenance. Interventions included online meetings with the staff country-wide and circulation of flyers detailing the pre-analytical steps via emails and hard copies. Re-audit showed reduction in number of apparently falsely low results to 30 out of a total of 1448 samples and 14 (0.96%) were investigated to be falsely low.Conclusion: Stringent pre-analytical process control is vital for quality reporting and patient safety.","PeriodicalId":193105,"journal":{"name":"EJIFCC","volume":"32 4","pages":"442-450"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/87/29/ejifcc-32-442.PMC8751400.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39833982","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Asymptomatic Hypernatremia in an Infant with Midline Defects. 婴儿无症状高钠血症与中线缺陷。

EJIFCC Pub Date : 2021-12-07 eCollection Date: 2021-12-01

Sangeetha Geminiganesan, Padmasani Venkat Ramanan, Dhivyalakshmi J, Bhogavalli Lakshmi Harshita, Deepalakshmi Sriram

引用次数: 0

Impact of a Novel Strategy for Critical Values Communication for the Management of Patients Treated with Clozapine. 一种新的临界值沟通策略对氯氮平治疗患者管理的影响。

EJIFCC Pub Date : 2021-12-07 eCollection Date: 2021-12-01

Ruth Cano-Corres, Siddarta Acebillo, Francesc Campos Barreda, Diego J Palao, Eugenio Berlanga-Escalera

{"title":"Impact of a Novel Strategy for Critical Values Communication for the Management of Patients Treated with Clozapine.","authors":"Ruth Cano-Corres, Siddarta Acebillo, Francesc Campos Barreda, Diego J Palao, Eugenio Berlanga-Escalera","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: Clozapine is an antipsychotic drug used to treat resistant schizophrenia and other disorders. Based on the actual Spanish legislation, patients treated with clozapine must undergo periodical haematological examinations and treatment should be reviewed when the haemogram shows either a leukocyte count of ≤ 3500/mm3 or neutrophil count < 2000/mm3. An automatic notification system has been developed to optimize patient management and it's utility was assessed following the implementation of the new system.Material and methods: When clozapine (CLO) laboratory test request was made, a reflex complete blood count test was also done. An automatic e-mail was sent by the laboratory information system to the physician when a CLO was ordered and low leukocyte or neutrophil counts were detected, or when a patient with an ordered CLO test did not attend the laboratory for blood drawing.Results: For patients with haemogram alterations, the time to take clinical action was significantly decreased from 23 to 7 days (p = 0.02). Moreover, the adherence to Spanish Agency of Drugs and Sanitary Devices recommendations significantly increased from 45% to 76% (p = 0.02). For not attending patients, the days out of control decreased from 29 to 12 days, although it was not statistically significant (p = 0.06).Conclusions: This strategy has allowed the compliance of legal requirements, the improvement of patient safety, and the optimisation of clinical and laboratory procedures.","PeriodicalId":193105,"journal":{"name":"EJIFCC","volume":"32 4","pages":"458-466"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/33/f2/ejifcc-32-458.PMC8751398.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39833984","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

The Detection of Hyaline Casts in Patients Without Renal Dysfunction Suggests Increased Plasma BNP. 在无肾功能障碍的患者中检测到透明型铸型提示血浆BNP增高。

EJIFCC Pub Date : 2021-12-07 eCollection Date: 2021-12-01

Elisa Shikata, Ryosuke Hattori, Mitsuo Hara, Tomohiro Nakayama

{"title":"The Detection of Hyaline Casts in Patients Without Renal Dysfunction Suggests Increased Plasma BNP.","authors":"Elisa Shikata, Ryosuke Hattori, Mitsuo Hara, Tomohiro Nakayama","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"Background and aim: Casts in urinary sediments are useful in the identification of kidney diseases. Among them, hyaline casts have not previously been considered as pathognomonic. However, hyaline casts can occasionally be found in patients undergoing cardiovascular treatment without renal dysfunction. We evaluated the background of these patients and also investigated their levels of plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP).Materials and methods: Samples from patients who visited the Division of Cardiovascular Disease at Nihon University Hospital (2014-2018) were examined. We set extract conditions from the laboratory information system database, setting the threshold over 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 for the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and proteinuria as absent (-) or trace (±). One hundred forty-seven of 3137 (4.7%) samples showed hyaline casts (M:F=102:45, mean age 69.5±11.2 years). Samples with hyaline casts were divided into three rank groups. We compared BNP levels among each cast group and age-matched controls using Kruskal-Wallis analysis.Results: The median BNP levels of the controls and the three casts groups were 23.3 pg/mL in the controls, 31.1 pg/mL in group (1+), 35.5 pg/mL in group (2+), and 45.8 pg/mL in group (≥3+). The median BNP levels differed significantly between two casts groups (group (2+) and group (≥3+)) and the control group (P<0.05 and P<0.01, respectively).Conclusion: Hyaline casts could be detected in patients with normal renal function. When hyaline casts are more than 2+, the physician should consider checking plasma BNP levels of the patient.","PeriodicalId":193105,"journal":{"name":"EJIFCC","volume":"32 4","pages":"410-420"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/df/08/ejifcc-32-410.PMC8751402.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39833542","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

An Overview on the Scientometric Advancement of the eJIFCC. eJIFCC的科学计量学进展综述。

EJIFCC Pub Date : 2021-12-07 eCollection Date: 2021-12-01

János Kappelmayer, Harjit Pal Bhattoa, Gábor L Kovács

引用次数: 0

A Puffy Child - A Rare Case of Steroid Resistant Nephrotic Syndrome with ANLN Mutation. 一个浮肿的孩子-一个罕见的类固醇抵抗性肾病综合征伴ANLN突变的病例。

EJIFCC Pub Date : 2021-10-18 eCollection Date: 2021-10-01

Sangeetha Geminiganesan, Swathi Ganesan, Jaippreetha Jayaraj, G Barathi, S Muthu Kumar, Nandha K Samy

{"title":"A Puffy Child - A Rare Case of Steroid Resistant Nephrotic Syndrome with ANLN Mutation.","authors":"Sangeetha Geminiganesan, Swathi Ganesan, Jaippreetha Jayaraj, G Barathi, S Muthu Kumar, Nandha K Samy","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"Recent advances in genomics have uncovered the molecular mechanisms involved in the broad spectrum of variation associated with steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome. Over 50 monogenic causes of steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome have been discovered; however, these genes are implicated in only a small proportion of cases. Using a combination of whole-exome sequencing and genome-wide linkage studies, a missense mutation in anillin (ANLN) has been identified as a cause of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a pattern of glomerular injury associated with steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome. We report a case of 2-year-6-month-old male child, who presented with severe edema and oliguria for 6 weeks. He was found to be an early steroid non-responder, hence renal biopsy and genetic testing were ordered. These findings were in favour of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a common cause of childhood steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome. It is important to identify the causative agent to avoid unnecessary immunosuppressive therapy and its associated risks.","PeriodicalId":193105,"journal":{"name":"EJIFCC","volume":"32 3","pages":"385-391"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/17/a0/ejifcc-32-385.PMC8592633.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39655864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Identifying and Reducing Errors in Point-of-Care Testing. 识别和减少护理点测试中的错误。

EJIFCC Pub Date : 2021-10-18 eCollection Date: 2021-10-01

Julie L V Shaw

引用次数: 0

Foreword from the Editor-in-Chief. 总编辑的前言。

EJIFCC Pub Date : 2021-10-18 eCollection Date: 2021-10-01

János Kappelmayer

引用次数: 0

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