Rejected

We lack data on the epidemiology and management of brain abscesses in the Middle East. The aim of this study is to report a case series of brain abscesses admitted at a tertiary care center in Lebanon, between January 2008 and December 2018.

The aim of this study is to determine the coinfections with other respiratory pathogens in SARS-CoV-2 infected children patients in a pediatric unit in Istanbul.

Locked posterior dislocation of the shoulder (LPDS) is a challenging condition for the orthopedic surgeon. The problem with cases of chronic locked posterior shoulder dislocation is that they may result in worse clinical outcomes since the size of the reverse Hill-Sachs lesion and cartilage damage can increase over time. Multiple treatment strategies have been reported in literature for the treatment of chronic cases. The purpose of this study was to report our experience with the modified McLaughlin technique for the treatment of chronic locked posterior shoulder dislocation and evaluate the mid and long-term functional outcome.

Segmental arterial mediolysis (SAM) is a rare arterial pathology and can cause rupture or dissection of the intracranial arterial wall. The etiology is unveiled, but vasospastic stimuli such as migraine are considered as a possible cause of SAM. We present the first case of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) due to SAM associated with Crohn's disease and migraine, and discuss the possible contribution of Crohn's disease to the development of SAM besides migraine.

Psychological distress is highly prevalent among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the top palliative care priority identified by such patients, and associated with poor outcomes. However, patients with COPD rarely receive care for psychological distress.

To evaluate the consumption of remifentanil (as a primary end-point), analgesia, sedation, hemodynamics, respiratory effects, and surgeon and patient satisfaction (as a secondary end-point) with dexmedetomidine sedation compared with those of remifentanil sedation in patients undergoing vitreoretinal surgery.

Acute pain intensity related to cesarean section (CS) may be extensive and is often underestimated. This may influence mothers' quality of life and their children's development. Regional analgesia techniques that include transversus abdominis plane block (TAPB) and quadratus lumborum block (QLB) have proven their efficacy in the postoperative period after CS. Although several randomized controlled studies and one meta-analysis have investigated the utility of TAPB and QLB in the reduction of acute and chronic pain after CS, only one study directly compared both types of regional blocks and revealed superiority of QLB over TAPB. Our study aimed to reevaluate the effectiveness of transversus TAPB and QLB in controlling acute postoperative pain after CS. We recruited 197 women with singleton pregnancies undergoing CS under spinal anesthesia. The patients were randomized to receive either TAPB or QLB after CS. The acute postoperative pain was evaluated using the visual analog scale (VAS) at 2, 4, 8, 12 and 24 h after the operation. No significant difference in acute postoperative pain intensity between the groups was found. The patients who received TAPB had a higher demand for supplemental morphine injections ( < 0.039). In our study, none of the evaluated regional blocks demonstrated an advantage over the other regarding acute postoperative pain management.

Envenomation caused by contact with bristles is characterized by pain, an intense systemic proinflammatory reaction and disturbances in the coagulation cascade that can cause severe clinical manifestations and death. However, the role of immune system components in these effects is still poorly understood. In this study, we evaluated the cytotoxic effect of venom on THP-1-derived macrophages and its ability to modulate inflammatory markers, as well as the cytokine and chemokine release profile. Our results show that venom is able to directly exert a potent pro-inflammatory reaction in macrophages, characterized by the activation of the NF-κB transcription factor pathway, the expression of CD80 and CD83, and the release of pro-inflammatory mediators such as TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and CXCL10. These results suggest that macrophages can play an important role during the orchestration of the inflammatory response present in envenomation caused by caterpillars.

The interaction between meloxicam and sulfonatocalix [4] naphthalene was investigated to improve the meloxicam solubility and its dissolution performance. Solubility behavior was investigated in distilled water (DW) and at different pH conditions. Besides, solid systems were prepared in a 1:1 molar ratio using coevaporate, kneading, and simple physical mixture techniques. Further, they were characterized by PXRD, FT-IR, DCS, and TGA. In vitro dissolution rate for coevaporate, kneaded, and physical mixture powders were also investigated. Solubility study revealed that meloxicam solubility significantly increased about 23.99 folds at phosphate buffer of pH 7.4 in the presence of sulfonatocalix [4] naphthalene. The solubility phase diagram was classified as A type, indicating the formation of 1:1 stoichiometric inclusion complex. PXRD, FT-IR, DCS, and TGA pointed out the formation of an inclusion complex between meloxicam and sulfonatocalix [4] naphthalene solid powders prepared using coevaporate technique. In addition, in vitro meloxicam dissolution studies revealed an improvement of the drug dissolution rate. Furthermore, a significantly higher drug release ( ≤ 0.05) and a complete dissolution was achieved during the first 10 min compared with the other solid powders and commercial meloxicam product. The coevaporate product has the highest increasing dissolution fold and RDR in the investigated media, with average values ranging from 5.4-65.28 folds and 7.3-90.7, respectively. In conclusion, sulfonatocalix [4] naphthalene is a promising host carrier for enhancing the solubility and dissolution performance of meloxicam with an anticipated enhanced bioavailability and fast action for acute and chronic pain disorders.

The oral microbiome is receiving growing interest from the scientific community, as the mouth is the gateway for numerous potential etiopathogenetic factors in different diseases. In addition, the progression of niches from the mouth to the gut, defined as "oral-gut microbiome axis", affects several pathologies, as rheumatic diseases. Notably, rheumatic disorders (RDs) are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. In this review, we examine evidence which supports a role for the oral microbiome in the etiology and progression of various RDs, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Sjogren's syndrome (SS), and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In addition, we address the most recent studies endorsing the oral microbiome as promising diagnostic biomarkers for RDs. Lastly, we introduce the concepts of artificial intelligence (AI), in particular, machine learning (ML) and their general application for understanding the link between oral microbiota and rheumatic diseases, speculating the application of a possible AI approach-based that can be applied to personalized medicine in the future.