Vitamin D is a critical micronutrient required by almost all body tissues. Globally, vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent to the extent that it is considered a pandemic. The present study aimed to examine the vitamin D status among the healthy population in a specific region. The present study was a cross-sectional study carried out from June, 2021 to January, 2022. A total of 991 apparently healthy individuals of various ages were randomly recruited from various public areas, and their blood samples were obtained. Among the enrolled participants, 582 (58.7%) were male and 409 (41.3%) were female. They had a mean age of 30.6±12.2 years. Of note, ~74.3% of the population had vitamin D deficiency (20 ng/ml), 21.1% had insufficient levels (20-29.9 ng/ml) and only 4.5% had normal levels (30-60 ng/ml). The mean 25-hydroxyvitamin D level of the study population was 16.29±7.1 ng/ml, with female participants having lower levels (14.05±7.55 ng/ml). There was an overall difference in the mean 25-hydroxyvitamin D level among the different age groups, with lower concentrations observed in subjects <40 years of age. On the whole, vitamin D deficiency was highly prevalent among the studied population, particularly among females and those in the younger age groups. Efforts to raise public awareness and the vitamin D fortification of food and dairy products are strongly recommended.
Early diagnosis and appropriate staging workup are crucial for cancer patients. Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (WB-MRI) has been proposed as another practical whole-body approach for assessing local invasiveness and distant metastases in patients newly diagnosed with cancer. The current study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of WB-MRI in assessing metastasis in patients newly diagnosed with cancer using histopathologic data as the reference method. A prospective observational study was performed from April 2018 to July 2020. MRI sequences were utilized to acquire anatomical and functional images in three orthogonal planes. The discovery was classified as nodal, skeletal and visceral metastases. Patient-based analysis was used for visceral metastasis and region-based for skeletal, systemic and lymph node metastases. A total of 43 consecutive patients (mean age, 56±15.2 years) were assessed successively. In 41 patients, there was a concordance between the WB-MRI and histological confirmation. The most prevalent site of metastasis was the skeletal system (18 patients). There were 12 individuals with liver metastasis, 10 with lung metastasis and 4 with peritoneal metastasis, with just one brain metastatic lesion found. On WB-MRI, 38 lymph node groups were deemed positive. Out of the total, 66 skeletal locations contained metastases. The accuracy of WB-MRI for nodal, skeletal and visceral metastases was (98.45, 100 and 100%, respectively). In conclusion, WB-MRI in three orthogonal planes, including the diffusion-weighted MRI with background body signal suppression sequence, may be utilized efficiently and accurately for assessing metastasis staging and may thus be utilized in patients with newly diagnosed cancer.
Pseudo-Wellens syndrome refers to any electrocardiogram (ECG) pattern that mimics Wellens syndrome with no critical left anterior descending (laD) artery-associated coronary artery disease. the present study describes a rare case of pseudo-Wellens syndrome associated with pulmonary embolism. a female patient presented with chest tightness for 72 h. the precordial examination and heart sounds were normal. a mild bilateral lower pitting leg edema with a superficial varicose vein was observed. The levels of C-reactive protein (98.80 mg/l) and D-dimer (7599.9 ng/ml) were abnormal. An electrocardiogram presented a biphasic inversion of the T-wave in precordial leads in the pain-free interval. Coronary angiography did not reveal any notable findings. A computed tomography pulmonary angiography demonstrated an acute pulmonary embolism. The patient received unfractionated heparin (20,000 IU) by intravenous infusion. She was discharged on rivaroxaban (15 mg) twice daily for 21 days. The inverted T-wave specificity, sensitivity and positive predictive values for LAD stenosis are 89, 69 and 86% respectively. This indicates that ECG alternations with the properties of Wellens syndrome do not always guarantee its occurrence, and in the presence of a normal coronary artery, the condition may be pseudo-Wellens syndrome. the case described herein suggests that clinicians need to carefully screen patients that have pulmonary embolisms with an abnormal electrocardiographic pattern in order to prevent unnecessary intervention.
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