Acute stent thrombosis (AST) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) and C-reactive protein (CRP) to albumin ratio (CAR) in predicting AST and high SYNTAX score in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The criteria of the Academic Research Consortium were used to determine definite stent thrombosis. A total of 2077 consecutive patients with ACS undergoing PCI were retrospectively enrolled. Platelet, white blood cell and neutrophil counts, as well as SII, CRP, CAR, and peak cardiac troponin I (cTnI) values were significantly higher, whereas the lymphocyte count and albumin values were significantly lower in the AST (+) group compared with the AST (−) group (P < .05). SYNTAX score showed significant positive correlations with SII (r = .429, P < .001) and CRP (r = .402, P < .001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that SII and CAR, as well as age, diabetes mellitus, stent length, and peak cTnI are independent predictors of AST and high SYNTAX score. In conclusion, the SII and CAR are simple, relatively cheap, and reliable inflammatory biomarkers that can predict AST and high SYNTAX scores in ACS.

A 17-year-old patient with type III Gaucher disease was hospitalized for recurrent syncope. Echocardiography showed calcified aortic and mitral stenosis. Three-dimensional computed tomography showed severely calcified plaques on the ascending aorta, arcus, and abdominal aorta. On follow-up, palpitations and syncope were triggered by emotional stress, followed by severe bradycardia that was resulted in cardiogenic shock; the patient died after 8 h despite all efforts. Gaucher disease should be kept in mind in the differential diagnosis of a young patient with extensive vascular and valvular calcification. Patients with symptomatic severe valvular disease must be referred for early surgery.

Objective: The COVID-19 outbreak became a major global health concern. There are some differences between urban and rural areas that may determine the impact of a viral pandemic. In our study, we aimed to investigate and present epidemiological, demographic, clinical, and radiological data relating to a rural area. Material and Method:This retrospective two-center study involved 2234 patients tested for COVID-19 between March 30th and July 15th, 2020. All patients were analysed for clinical, demographic, and radiological data.Results: Of the patients; 1309 (58.6%) were male, 925 (41.4%) female and 259 (11%) were PCR positive, and 1975 (89%) PCR negative. Of the PCR positive group, 121 (46.7%) were male and 138 (53.3%) female. The mean age was 38 ±18.5. Twenty-nine (11.2%) patients needed intensive care support. Twelve (4.6%) patients died due to COVID-19: two of them due to COVID-19-related myocardial infarction and ten of them due to severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multiorgan dysfunction, or septic shock. The case fatality rate (CFR) was 4.6%. Conclusion:Age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, asthma, and heart failure were associated with COVID-19 infection. The risk of infection was higher in patients older than 20 years (p<0.001) and females (OR: 1.636; p<0.001). Patients with hypertension (OR: 2.281; p<0.001), diabetes (OR: 1.013; p=0.039), asthma (OR: 2.786; p=0.001) or heart failure (OR: 2.610; p=0.006) had a significantly higher risk of infection.

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Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the long-term prognostic implications of incidental pleural effusion (PE) detected during echocardiographic examination and its relationship with concomitant diseases. Hypothesis: The study hypothesis is to test whether incidental pleural PE detected during echocardiographic examination be used as a prognostic marker. Methods: The study was performed by evaluating patient records (N = 251) in whom PE was incidentally detected during echocardiographic examination in a tertiary hospital between 1999 and 2012. The patients were classified into 4 major groups according to the concomitant primary disease: malignancy, and cardiovascular, renal, and pulmonary diseases. The total survival time was obtained from hospital records for patients who died during the hospital stay and social security institution records for patients with out-of-hospital death. Results: One-year and 5-year life expectancies of PE cases concomitant with different disorders were as follows; heart failure (n = 151), 81% and 70%; malignancies (n = 45), 53% and 44%; pulmonary diseases (n = 37), 89% and 78%; renal diseases (n = 18), 100% and 83%; respectively. PE associated with heart failure, renal disease, and pulmonary disease had similar (P > 0.05 for all) and favorable outcomes compared to PE associated with malignancies (P < 0.001). Conclusions:The prognosis of incidental PE was the worst in patients with concomitant malignancies; however, PE associated with nonmalignant diseases including heart failure, pulmonary disease, and renal disease have similar and favorable outcomes.