COVID-19 Pulmonary and Extrapulmonary Complications

To date, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has become a global pandemic and public health disaster. In addition to acute respiratory manifestations, patients with COVID-19 exhibit other non-respiratory manifestations, particularly in those with severe underlying disease. Few specific therapeutics are effective for COVID-19, and supportive care is the primary remedy. Here, we comprehensively surveyed the most recent reports on extrapulmonary complications of COVID-19 and their corresponding treatments, as well as the comparison of different clinical symptoms and complications of COVID-19, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) patients. We wish to provide a molecular and cellular understanding of the complications of COVID-19 and provide guidance for future diagnostics, therapeutics, and prognostics of COVID-19.

Value of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for evaluating the angiogenesis of carotid plaque in patients with cerebral infarction and its correlation with the changes of plaque properties

Objective: To study the value of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for evaluating the angiogenesis of carotid plaque in patients with cerebral infarction and its correlation with the changes of plaque properties. Methods: The patients with carotid low-echo plaque detected by carotid artery ultrasound in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region People's Hospital between January 2014 and January 2016 were selected as the research subjects, received at least 2 years of follow-up and divided into the cerebral infarction group who were with acute cerebral infarction during follow-up and the control group who were without cerebral infarction. CEUS was conducted on inclusion to measure the peak intensity (Peak) and time to peak (TP), and the serum was collected to determine the contents of angiogenesis molecules, inflammatory cytokines and collagen metabolism indexes. Results: The Peak level as well as serum VEGF, HGF, Ang-1, PDGF-BB, VE-cadherin, FKN, IL-17, ICTP, MMP10 and Caspase-3 contents of cerebral infarction group was higher than those of control group whereas TP level as well as serum IL-4, IL-10, TIMP1 and Vaspin contents was lower than those of control group;serum VEGF, HGF, Ang-1, PDGF-BB, VE-cadherin, FKN, IL-17, ICTP, MMP10 and Caspase-3 contents of cerebral infarction group were positively correlated with Peak level, and negatively correlated with TP level;serum IL-4, IL-10, TIMP1 and Vaspin contents were negatively correlated with Peak level, and positively correlated with TP level. Conclusion: CEUS parameters can be used to evaluate the angiogenesis in carotid plaque and the changes of plaque properties in patients with cerebral infarction.

Correlation of thyroid papillary carcinoma CEUS characteristics with cancer cell proliferation and invasion

Objective:To study the correlation of thyroid papillary carcinoma CEUS characteristics with cancer cell proliferation and invasion.Methods:A total of 128 patients with thyroid papillary carcinoma who received surgical treatment in the hospital between May 2013 and May 2016 were collected, CEUS was used to make clear the peak intensity (PI) and area under the curve (AUC) of tumor tissue and surrounding normal tissue, and the median of PI and AUC was referred to further divide the patients into high PI group and low PI group as well as high AUC group and low AUC group, 64 cases in each group. Fluorescent quantitative PCR was used to determine proliferation and invasion gene mRNA expression in tumor tissues.Results: PI and AUC levels in tumor tissue were lower than those in surrounding normal tissue;proliferation genes EZH2, Livin, hTERT, HMGA1 and Wip1 mRNA expression of low PI group were higher than those of high PI group, and invasion gene Ki-67 mRNA expression was higher than that of high PI group while P53 and MRP-1 mRNA expression were lower than those of high PI group;proliferation genes EZH2, Livin, hTERT, HMGA1 and Wip1 mRNA expression of low AUC group were higher than those of high AUC group, and invasion gene Ki-67 mRNA expression was higher than that of high AUC group while P53 and MRP-1 mRNA expression were lower than those of high AUC group.Conclusion: Thyroid papillary carcinoma CEUS parameters PI and AUC levels can quantifiably reflect the cancer cell proliferation and invasion activity.