Tag Archives: COVID-19

Epidemiology and clinicopathological characteristics of tumoral and non-tumoral bladder lesions in Bistrița-Năsăud county, Romania: A retrospective analysis (2018-2023) and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Petre Carabașa1, Georgian Nicolae Radu2, Ioan Alin Nechifor-Boilă3, Adela Nechifor-Boilă4

1. Department of Pathology, Bistrița-Năsăud County Emergency Clinical Hospital, Romania
2. Department of Pathology, Mureș County Clinical Hospital, Targu Mures, Romania
3. Department of Anatomy and Embryology, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, Targu Mures, Romania
4. Department of Histology, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, Targu Mures, Romania

DOI: 10.2478/amma-2025-0041

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to analyze the temporal trend and the histopathological and demographic characteristics of tumoral and non-tumoral bladder lesions diagnosed at the Pathology Department of the Bistrița-Năsăud County Emergency Clinical Hospital, Romania between 2018 and 2023. A secondary objective was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tumor diagnosis.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study including 279 cases diagnosed via bladder biopsy, transurethral resection of bladder tumor, and cystectomy. Variables such as age, sex, environment, intervention type, histopathological diagnosis, and TNM staging were collected. Statistical analysis was performed using Epi Info and Microsoft Excel, with a significance threshold set at p<0.05.
Results: Invasive urothelial tumors were the most common (n=144 cases, 51.61%), followed by non-invasive urothelial tumors (n=95, 34.05%), non-tumoral lesions (n=31, 11.11%), and non-urothelial tumors (n=9, 3.22%). Most cases occurred in men (n=226, 81%), particularly in the 61–70 and 71–80 age groups. Non-muscle invasive bladder cancers (pTa, T1) were triple as frequent as muscle-invasive bladder cancers. Comparing the pre-pandemic/pandemic (2018–2020) and post-pandemic (2021–2023) periods, we observed a 88% increase in total diagnosed cases (p<0.0001) along with a significant rise in both non-muscle invasive bladder cancers (+70%, p=0.002) and muscle invasive bladder cancers (+106%, p=0.017), the latter showing a more pronounced increase.
Conclusions: Our study provides a comprehensive overview on the impact that COVID-19 pandemic has had on the diagnosis of bladder lesions within Bistrița County area. The post-pandemic group exhibited a marked rise in both tumoral and non-tumoral lesions, as well as in the number of MIBCs, highlighting the effect of pandemic related restriction on patients care. Nevertheless, our results need further confirmation through future larger scale studies.

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Oligosymptomatic form of Melkersson-Rosenthal Syndrome possibly triggered by COVID-19 infection: A case report

Nisada Đuzelić1, Nina Čamdžić2, Dževad Durmišević3, Amir Rekić4, Selma Hodžić4, Asja Prohić5

1. Cantonal Hospital “Dr. Irfan Ljubijankić”, Department of Dermatovenerology, Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina
2. Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
3. Cantonal Hospital “Dr. Irfan Ljubijankić”, Department of Pathology, Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina
4. Cantonal Hospital “Dr. Irfan Ljubijankić”, Department for Ear, Nose and Throat Diseases, Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina
5. Department of Dermatovenerology, Sarajevo Medical School, University of Sarajevo School of Science and Technology, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

DOI: 10.2478/amma-2024-0004

Introduction: Melkersson Rosenthal syndrome (MRS) is a disease of multifactorial origin typically presented with a triad of symptoms including peripheral facial nerve paralysis, plicated tongue and orofacial edema. Diagnosing MRS requires the exclusion of other granulomatous diseases and the correlation of clinical with histopathological finding.
Case presentation: We present the case of a 56-year-old female with a four-month history of lower lip and right mandible angle swelling together with a plicated tongue that appeared during COVID-19 infection. The patient was successfully treated with intralesional Triamcinolone Acetonide at a dose of 40 mg.
Conclusion: The presented case is specific by its late onset since the patient experienced their first symptoms in fifties, which differs from the majority of cases where the diagnosis is usually established in young adults. Infectious factors are established as possible etiologic factors of MRS, but few cases are described to be triggered or worsened by COVID-19 infection.

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Computed tomography evaluation of diaphragm alterations in 20 critically ill COVID-19 positive patients

Oana Elena Branea1, AnaMaria Romina Budeanu2, Răzvan Gabriel Budeanu3, Adrian Ștefan Chiuzan4, Ioana Lăcrămioara Nazaret5, Sanda Maria Copotoiu1, Alexandra Elena Lazăr1

1. Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Târgu Mureș, România
2. Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Emergency Clinical County Hospital of Târgu Mureș, România
3. Department of Radiology, Emergency Clinical County Hospital of Târgu Mureș, România
4. Department of Radiology, Emergency Clinical County Hospital of Bistrița, România
5. Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Emergency Clinical County Hospital of Piatra Neamț, România

DOI: 10.2478/amma-2022-0014

Objective: Diaphragmatic dysfunctions are multiple and critical illnesses often lead to the muscular atrophy that affects respiratory and peripheral muscles. The primary objective was to investigate diaphragm thickness in hospitalized patients. Secondary objectives were to assess clinical evolution and outcome. Methods: In a mean time period of 7.9 days, two different chest computed tomographies were used in order to examine diaphragm alterations of right and left diaphragm in 20 critically ill patients tested Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction positive to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2. Patients were divided in two groups (one group <5% decrease in diaphragm thickness and another group ≥5% decrease in diaphragm thickness).
Results: Results showed that patients presented low 10 years predicted survival rate (Charlson Comorbidity Index > 7.7±3.08), marked inflammatory status (C-Reactive Protein = 98.22±73.35, Interleukine-6 = 168.31±255.28), high physiologic stress level (Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio = 31.27±30.45), respectively altered acid-base equilibrium. Half of the investigated patients had decrease in diaphragm thickness by at least 5% (right diaphragm = -7.83%±11.11%, left diaphragm = -5.57%±10.63%). There were no statistically significant differences between those with decrease of diaphragm thickness and those without diaphragm thickness, regarding length of stay in Intensive Care Unit and in hospital, inflammatory markers, and acid-base disorders.
Conclusions: Patients were admitted in Intensive Care Unit for acute respiratory failure and half of the investigated patients displayed diaphragm alterations at CT scan.

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Vascular injury in macroscopically normal skin of patients with severe COVID-19 infection: clinical-pathologic correlations

Mircea-Catălin Coșarcă, Vasile Adrian Mureșan, Emoke Horvath, Eliza Russu, Janos Szederjesi, Matild Keresztes

George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, Romania

DOI: 10.2478/amma-2021-0027

Objectives: Taking into account that the documentation of the histopathological features in severe disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 has been scarce due to the avoidance of performing autopsies, the aim of the study was to detect the microscopic changes associated with severe COVID-19 infection in normal-appearing skin, without prominent dermatologic signs of a generalized microvascular thrombotic disorder, in accordance with the clinical evolution of disease.
Methods: In this morphological and immunohistochemical study we included cutaneous biopsy samples from 12 symptomatic patients with severe and critical type SARS-CoV-2 infection (with the admission date between February and June 2020), treated in the Intensive Therapy Unit Care of Emergency County Hospital Targu-Mures, Romania.
Results: The average age of our patients was 65.18 ± 14.21 years (range 41 to 83), and 66.67% of the patients were male. The histological and immunohistochemical assessment of cutaneous biopsies: in 4 cases the histological examination revealed small fibrin thrombi in deep-seated venules and small veins of subcuticular adipose tissue, and also 4 cutaneous biopsies showed occlusive vascular thrombosis in association with massive perivascular inflammatory infiltrate destroying and compromising the integrity of the vessel wall. The immunohistochemical examination of the composition of perivascular inflammatory infiltrate showed a predominance of CD3 positive lymphocytes, admixed with CD68 positive Mo/MF, some of them activated with FXIII expression. In the perivascular infiltrate, the presence of granulocytes and B lymphocytes was not characteristic.
Conclusion: According to our observations, in severe COVID-19, the cutaneous tissue is involved even in the absence of clinically obvious changes. Due to the relatively easy accessibility of skin samples, these could be applied to determine the severity of the patient’s clinical status, and to predict the necessity for anti-complement or anticoagulant treatments in the early stages of a severe SARS-CoV-2 infection.

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Advantages of lung ultrasound in triage, diagnosis and monitoring COVID-19 patients: review

Bianca Emilia Ciurba1, Hédi Katalin Sárközi1,2, István Adorján Szabó1,2, Nimród László1, Edith Simona Ianosi1,2, Maria Ianosi2, Gabriela Jimborean1,2

1. Mures County Clinical Hospital, Romania
2. George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, Romania

DOI: 10.2478/amma-2021-0019

Over the last decades, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic period, lung ultrasound (LUS) gained interest due to multiple advantages: radiation-free, repeatable, cost-effective, portable devices with a bedside approach. These advantages can help clinicians in triage, in positive diagnostic, stratification of disease forms according to severity and prognosis, evaluation of mechanically ventilated patients from Intensive Care Units, as well as monitoring the progress of COVID-19 lesions, thus reducing the health care contamination. LUS should be performed by standard protocol examination. The characteristic lesions from COVID-19 pneumonia are the abolished lung sliding, presence of multiple and coalescent B-lines, disruption and thickening of pleural line with subpleural consolidations. LUS is a useful method for post-COVID-19 lesions evaluation, highlight the remaining fibrotic lesions in some patients with moderate or severe forms of pneumonia.

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