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Background: Contemporary scientific literature has emphasized two specific aspects of healthcare professionals: compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has placed significant strain... more
Background: Contemporary scientific literature has emphasized two specific aspects of healthcare professionals: compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has placed significant strain on health systems and healthcare workers, the Russian-Ukrainian crisis appears to have a magnifying effect, particularly on mental health. Methods: The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between threat perception, daily worries, and professional quality of life in a sample of Emergency Medicine Personnel during two major events mentioned above. The sample included 372 participants (56.7% nurses and 43.3% physicians) from emergency units in five county hospitals in the Eastern region of Romania. Results: The study revealed that threats related to the pandemic were positively linked to secondary traumatic stress, and daily worries were positively linked to both secondary traumatic stress and burnout. Threats generated by the war did not manifest a direct relation with any of the indicators of professional quality of life, but daily worries generated by war positively predicted both secondary traumatic stress and burnout. Conclusion: Both the pandemic, which involved cumulative exposure, and the war, which involved a lower and more distant level of exposure, had the potential to generate worries and predict a low quality of life. However, our results did not reveal any association between threats, worries, and compassion satisfaction. As a result, this positive indicator of quality of life remained stable despite the presence of threats and worries.
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Dietary salt intake is a long-debated issue. Increased sodium intake is associated with high blood pressure, leading to salt-sensitive hypertension. Excessive salt intake leads to arterial stiffness in susceptible individuals via impaired... more
Dietary salt intake is a long-debated issue. Increased sodium intake is associated with high blood pressure, leading to salt-sensitive hypertension. Excessive salt intake leads to arterial stiffness in susceptible individuals via impaired nitric oxide action and increased endothelin-1 expression, overactivity of the renal sympathetic nervous system and also via aldosterone-independent activation of the mineralocorticoid receptor. Salt restriction in such individuals reduces blood pressure (BP) values. The optimal level of salt restriction that leads to improved cardiovascular outcomes is still under debate. Current BP and dietary guidelines recommend low sodium intake for the general population. However, a specific category of patients does not develop arterial hypertension in response to sodium loading. In addition, recent research demonstrates the deleterious effects of aggressive sodium restriction, even in heart failure patients. This mini review discusses current literature dat...
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Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate choroidal structure and vascularity indices in patients with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR). Materials and Methods: Sixty-three eyes from sixty-three patients... more
Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate choroidal structure and vascularity indices in patients with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR). Materials and Methods: Sixty-three eyes from sixty-three patients were evaluated: 21 from healthy subjects, 20 with diabetes mellitus (DM) and no diabetic retinopathy (DR), and 22 with DM and non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy without diabetic macular edema (DME). Each patient underwent ocular examination, macular swept-source ocular coherence tomography (SS-OCT) imaging, glycemic control, and systemic high blood pressure (HBP) evaluation. Subfoveal choroidal thickness (SF-CT) was manually assessed on a line scan. Line scan OCT images were exported to ImageJ program. The areas under a 1.5, 3 and 6 mm horizontal line centered on the fovea were assessed by converting the OCT images to binary images, and total choroidal area (TCA), luminal area (LA), stromal area (SA), LA:SA ratio, and choroidal vascularity inde...
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Background and Objectives: Cytokines are cell-signaling proteins whose identification may serve as inflammatory markers or early indicators for progressive disease. The aim of our study was to quantify several cytokines in aqueous humor... more
Background and Objectives: Cytokines are cell-signaling proteins whose identification may serve as inflammatory markers or early indicators for progressive disease. The aim of our study was to quantify several cytokines in aqueous humor (AH) and their correlations with biochemical parameters in diabetic eyes with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR). Materials and Methods: A total of 62 eyes from 62 patients were included in the study: 37 eyes from nondiabetic patients (group 1), 13 diabetic eyes with no retinopathy changes (group 2) and 12 diabetic eyes with early and moderate NPDR (group 3). AH samples were collected during uneventful cataract surgery. The cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IP-10, MCP-1, TNF-α and VEGF were quantified using multiplex bead-based immunoassay. Due to unreliable results, IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-10 and IL-12 were excluded. Concentrations were compared between groups. Biochemical parameters (fasting blood sugar, glycated hemoglobin, C-reactive...
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Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background/Aim. Tumour angiogenesis defined bymicrovessel density (MVD) is... more
Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background/Aim. Tumour angiogenesis defined bymicrovessel density (MVD) is generally accepted as a prognostic factor in breast cancer. However, due to variability ofmeasurement systems and cutoffs, it is questionable to date whether it contributes to predictive outline. Our study aims to grade vascular heterogeneity by comparing clear-cut compartments: tumour associated stroma (TAS), tumour parenchyma, and tumour invasive front. Material and Methods. Computerized vessel area measurement was performed using a tissue cytometry system (TissueFAXS) on slides originated from 50 patients with breast cancer. Vessels were marked using immunohistochemistry with CD34. Regions of interest were manually defined for each tumour compartment. Results. Tumour invasive front vascular endothelia area was 2.15 times higher than that in tumour...
Aim: The conducted study was focused on identifying children with an atopic background diagnosed with urticaria and also to increase parental responsibility regarding child alimentation, given the impact of allergic reactions (especially... more
Aim: The conducted study was focused on identifying children with an atopic background diagnosed with urticaria and also to increase parental responsibility regarding child alimentation, given the impact of allergic reactions (especially those caused by food factors) on the pediatric patient. Material and methods: This retrospective study was conducted in 246 patients diagnosed with urticaria admitted to “Sf. Maria” Clinical Pediatric Hospital, Iasi between January 2012 and December 2013. Results: Regarding the etiology of urticaria, the corroboration of the history, clinical and biological data revealed a predominance of urticaria triggered by food factors (54%, 132 cases). Urticaria caused by drugs was identified in 27 (12%) cases, mostly triggered by antibiotics. The analysis of Immunoglobulin E (IgE) blood levels showed elevated levels in 93.75% of the subjects in the age group 0-2 years and 44.44% in children over 6 years old had. Specific IgE analysis for food allergens reveal...
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Emergency medicine as a medical specialty has to deal with all kind of emergency situations, from medical to post traumatic acute eyents and from new born to the elderly persons, but also with particular situations like explosions. In... more
Emergency medicine as a medical specialty has to deal with all kind of emergency situations, from medical to post traumatic acute eyents and from new born to the elderly persons, but also with particular situations like explosions. In Romania nowadays these are accidental explosions and rare like frequency, but may be dramatic due to numbers of victims and multisystem injury that may occur. We present a case of a single victim of accidental detonated bomb, a projectile from the Second World War, which unfortunately still may be found in some areas. The management of the case from first call to 112 until the victim is discharge-involves high professional team work. We use these opportunity to make a brief review of the mechanism through the lesions may appear and also to renew the fact that the most impressive lesion may not be the most severe, and we have to examine carefully in order to find the real life threatening injury of the patient.
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Background/Aim. Tumour angiogenesis defined by microvessel density (MVD) is generally accepted as a prognostic factor in breast cancer. However, due to variability of measurement systems and cutoffs, it is questionable to date whether it... more
Background/Aim. Tumour angiogenesis defined by microvessel density (MVD) is generally accepted as a prognostic factor in breast cancer. However, due to variability of measurement systems and cutoffs, it is questionable to date whether it contributes to predictive outline. Our study aims to grade vascular heterogeneity by comparing clear-cut compartments: tumour associated stroma (TAS), tumour parenchyma, and tumour invasive front.Material and Methods. Computerized vessel area measurement was performed using a tissue cytometry system (TissueFAXS) on slides originated from 50 patients with breast cancer. Vessels were marked using immunohistochemistry with CD34. Regions of interest were manually defined for each tumour compartment.Results. Tumour invasive front vascular endothelia area was 2.15 times higher than that in tumour parenchyma and 4.61 times higher than that in TAS (P<0.002). Worth to mention that the lymph node negative subgroup of patients show a slight but constant inc...
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Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is a blood disorder characterized by a low platelet count of (less than 100 × 109/L). ITP is an organ-specific autoimmune disease in which the platelets and their precursors become targets of a... more
Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is a blood disorder characterized by a low platelet count of (less than 100 × 109/L). ITP is an organ-specific autoimmune disease in which the platelets and their precursors become targets of a dysfunctional immune system. This interaction leads to a decrease in platelet number and, subsequently, to a bleeding disorder that can become clinically significant with hemorrhages in skin, on the mucous membrane, or even intracranial hemorrhagic events. If ITP was initially considered a hemorrhagic disease, more recent studies suggest that ITP has an increased risk of thrombosis. In this review, we provide current insights into the primary ITP physiopathology and their consequences, with special consideration on hemorrhagic and thrombotic events. The autoimmune response in ITP involves both the innate and adaptive immune systems, comprising both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. Thrombosis in ITP is related to the pathophysiology of the disea...
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Aim: To evaluate a group of children diagnosed with food allergies mediated by IgE or non-IgE mechanisms. Material and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted on 132 patients diagnosed with food-associated hives admitted over a... more
Aim: To evaluate a group of children diagnosed with food allergies mediated by IgE or non-IgE mechanisms. Material and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted on 132 patients diagnosed with food-associated hives admitted over a 2-year period to the Pediatric Clinic II of the Iasi "St. Maria" Children's Hospital. Results: Serum levels of specific IgE were positive in 85 (64.39%) cases for one or more food allergens, while positive values of IgG4 were recorded in 21 (15.9%) cases. The most commonly involved allergens were cow milk, egg white, peanuts, wheat flour and fish, in agreement with data in the literature. Percentage frequency of risk factors for allergic sensitization was: artificial or mixed feeding (68.18%), family history of atopy (53.78%), food diversification before 6 months of age (52.27%), natural feeding for less than 3 months (37.87%), and prolonged antibiotic therapy (23.48%). Polysensitization to food and airborne allergens correlated with r...
Background and Aim: Breast cancer shows poor prognosis when tied with chronic inflammation mediated by tumor associated macrophages (TAM). However, TAM’s multiple role, localization and prognosis are still debatable. Our study aims to... more
Background and Aim: Breast cancer shows poor prognosis when tied with chronic inflammation mediated by tumor associated macrophages (TAM). However, TAM’s multiple role, localization and prognosis are still debatable. Our study aims to quantify macrophage area and compare defined tumor morphological compartments: tumor associated stroma (TAS), tumor parenchyma and invasive front. Material and Methods: Automated digital macrophage area quantification was standardized using a tissue cytometry system (TissueFAXS) on slides originated from 50 patients with invasive breast carcinoma. Macrophages were stained using immunohistochemistry with anti-CD68 marker. The three tumor compartments were manually delineated on the digital slides. Results: Macrophage area was 3 times higher in lymph node-negative metastasis patients (pN0 group) when compared to lymph node-positive group in tumor and invasive front compartments. Highly significant strong correlations were found between the three compartments only in pN0 group (i.e. R >0.90, P<0.001) while pN+ group showed weak ones suggesting various macrophage roles. Conclusion: Compartment-specific automatic quantification of macrophages in invasive breast carcinoma provides more insight on their role in tumor outcome. The new method applied in our study shows compartments’ variability of local macrophage density and highlights behavior differentiated by the presence of metastasis.