Rejected

After the onset of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, many workers were forced to start working from home, creating a new dynamic that could potentially affect their health in several ways.

Pain, a physiological protective mechanism, turns into a complex dynamic neural response when it becomes chronic. The role of neuroplastic brain changes is more evident than the peripheral factors in the maintenance, modulation and amplification of chronic low back pain (cLBP). In this background, we summarise the brain changes in cLBP in a coordinate-based activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. Databases ('PubMed', 'Scopus' and 'Sleuth') were searched till May 2022 and the activity pattern was noted under the 'without stimulation' and 'with stimulation' groups. A total of 312 studies were selected after removing duplicates. Seventeen (553 cLBP patients, 192 activation foci) studies were fulfilled the eligibility criteria and included in the 'without stimulation' group. Twelve statistically significant clusters are localized in the prefrontal cortex, primary somatosensory cortex, primary motor cortex, parietal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, caudate, putamen, globus pallidus amygdala, occipital lobe, temporal lobe and associated white matter in this group. Ten studies (353 cLBP patients, 125 activation foci) were selected in the' with stimulation' groups. In this group, seven statistically significant clusters were found in the frontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, premotor cortex, parietal cortex, claustrum and insula. These statistically significant clusters indicate a probable imbalance in GABAergic modulation of brain circuits and dysfunction in the descending pain modulation system. This disparity in the pain neuro-matrix is the source of spontaneous and persisting pain in cLBP.

In patients with inguinal hernias who have undergone radical prostatectomy, dissecting the medial preperitoneal space is difficult because of the presence of fibrotic scars. It is also difficult to guarantee sufficient space for mesh implantation. We added laparoscopic iliopubic tract repair (IPTR) to transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) hernioplasty, and evaluated this for the treatment of inguinal hernias after radical prostatectomy.

A 29-year-old girl presented complaining of acute bilateral visual loss associated with mild headache and retrobulbar pain. She was diagnosed with chiasmal optic neuritis caused by multiple sclerosis. Her visual acuity and visual field defect promptly improved after steroid therapy. However optical coherence tomography angiography showed a progressive reduction of superficial capillary plexus density of the retina and optic nerve consistent with the progressive impairment of the retinal ganglionar cell layer. Contrary to chiasmal compression, in chiasmal optic neuritis, the superficial capillary plexus density reduction is diffuse and does not reflect the peculiar anatomy of the chiasm.

EMPOwER, a 12-week, double-blind (DB), randomized, placebo-controlled study evaluated the efficacy and safety of erenumab in adult patients with episodic migraine (EM) from Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. This study analyzes the Indian experience for the use of erunumab for prevention of episodic migraine.

Although chronic pain and high-risk alcohol use are prevalent in primary care and associated with more severe pain and functional impairment, current approaches address them separately and often neglect risky alcohol use among those with chronic pain. Treatments tailored to patient preferences increase utilization, yet little is known about patient treatment preferences for chronic pain and high-risk alcohol use.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome (COVID-19) due to SARS-CoV-2 was first reported in China in December 2019 and has generated a worldwide pandemic. The objective of the research is to examine and describe (a) the symptoms that persist after the end of the acute stage and (b) their relationship with the severity of the disease.

Ischemic hepatitis is a rare cause of acute liver injury (ALI) and is associated with various etiologies including cardiac failure, trauma, hemorrhage, and respiratory failure that all result in poor perfusion and oxygen delivery to the liver. A 30-year-old patient complained of orthopnea with a history of hepatitis C treatment and is currently on hemodialysis (HD) due to chronic allograft rejection. Also, he had previous pericardial effusion (PEFF) due to inadequate dialysis. Laboratory tests on admission revealed urinary tract infection, HCV PCR positive, and high blood urea nitrogen. Computed tomography of the chest showed massive PEFF. Echocardiography revealed a massive PEFF that measured 3.6 cm on the apical four-chamber window, and the inferior vena cava diameter was 27 mm with a decreased collapsibility of ˂20% in inspiration. The patient was treated for UTI and started the treatment for HCV. Also, increased HD sessions with minimal heparinization of the dialyzer circuit were obtained along with daily monitoring of PEFF by echocardiography. At first, echocardiography did not reveal frank signs of cardiac tamponade, but after 2 sessions of HD, the patient developed chest pain, worsening orthopnea, JVP elevation, and dropping of the systolic BP. Echocardiography showed specific signs of cardiac tamponade, which included an increased effusion to 4.4 cm and changes in velocities of the mitral valve and tricuspid valve during the respiratory cycle by more than 25% and 40%, respectively. The patient was transmitted to ICU, and pericardiocentesis was obtained. Two days later, asymptomatic ALI was noticed by elevation of the following tests: ALT, AST, LDH, PT, and INR. However, ALI exhibits a rapid and spontaneous resolution to nearly normal tests after 10 days. Although the patient was hemodynamically stable, the liver injury occurred and might be attributed to ESRD and hypertension that caused thickened heart walls, diastolic dysfunction, and subsequently hepatic congestion, in addition to previous liver injury due to HCV. We present a rare case of ALI caused by uremic pericardial tamponade with an overview of the current literature with regard to this entity. So, we emphasize monitoring liver function tests in the context of PEFF, especially in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Intramedullary tuberculoma (IMT) is considered to be a rare form of spinal tuberculosis (TB). Overall, TB of the central nervous system accounts for approximately 1% of all cases of TB and 50% of these involve the spine. The clinical presentation of spinal intramedullary TB is similar to an intramedullary spinal cord tumor mass. The factors attributable could be malnutrition, poor socioeconomic conditions, and immunodeficiency syndromes. As per the reports, the incidence of primary intramedullary TB is 2 in 100,000 cases among patients with TB. We describe one such patient who presented with progressive asymmetrical paraparesis due to histologically confirmed intraspinal tuberculoma. Paraparesis in spinal IMT is considered to be rare. Hereby, we present the case of a 29-year-old female who presented with asymmetric onset paraparesis of 6 months with associated numbness and tingling began in the left foot 3 months which was ascending in nature. There was no history of stiffness, involuntary movements, flexor spasms, thinning, or fasciculations of muscles. There was a loss of sensation pain, touch, and temperature below L3 with normal reflexes. Power in both the lower limbs was 1/5 as per Medical Research Council (MRC) grading. She underwent a contrast magnetic resonance imaging spine which was suggestive of an intramedullary SOL at D12 vertebral level. The patient underwent surgical intervention with resection of the SOL. Histopathology was confirmed to be an IMT. She was started on Category 1 (antitubercular drugs) and further investigated for primary source, which was found to be negative. We want to emphasize that TB can involve any part of the body. It should be kept as a differential diagnosis of any chronic inflammatory lesion involving the bony skeleton, especially in endemic countries where combined surgical and medical treatment is usually sufficient to provide a cure.

To determine the incidence of anxiety and depression and examine their cross-sectional associations with chronic pain and quality of life among older adults in rural China.