Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2024-10"
Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Paratesticular Fibrous Pseudotumor in a Pediatric Patient: A Case Report.Publication . Coelho Mogárrio, Inês; Jalles, Filipa; Knoblich, Maria; Alves, RuiParatesticular fibrous pseudotumors are rare benign tumors. This case reports paratesticular fibrous pseudotumors in a very young patient. A previously healthy 16-month-old boy was seen due to a growing scrotal mass. On clinical examination, there was a painless, multinodular scrotal mass. Tumor markers were normal, and a testicular ultrasound with Doppler revealed a solid, avascular, and hypoechoic mass (50x20 mm). The patient underwent excision of the scrotal mass and adjacent skin. The histological analysis revealed a paratesticular fibrous pseudotumor. Definitive treatment is surgical excision, and if there is any concern for malignancy, an extemporaneous examination should be done to confirm the diagnosis. The prognosis with fibrous pseudotumors is excellent.
- Fatal Superior Vena Cava Obstruction With High-Output Chylothorax in a Preterm Infant: A Complication of Central Venous CatheterizationPublication . Constante, Andreia D; Virella, Daniel; Lage, Maria J; Pinto, FátimaChylothorax in the perinatal period may have congenital or acquired aetiologies. In premature infants, invasive procedures with thrombosis risk are common practice. We present a case of a 29-week gestation neonate, diagnosed on the 27th postnatal day with vegetation on the tip of the central venous catheter (CVC) and right auricle thrombosis, along with superior vena cava (SVC) syndrome, leading to significant bilateral chylothorax. Despite antithrombotic therapy, extensive intramural SVC obstruction persisted. Surgical intervention was considered high risk in such a preterm infant. Lung function declined progressively, and the neonate died from cardiorespiratory failure at the age of 2 months and 26 days. A post-mortem examination revealed minimal SVC lumen obstruction, emphasizing the potential lethality of secondary complications, regardless of successful thrombolysis. This case highlights both the life-threatening risk of neonatal SVC thrombosis associated with CVC and the need to assess the causes of chylothorax for coexisting aetiologies.
- Quality of Life and Performance Status after Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: A Study in Cova da Beira University Hospital Center's Intensive Care Unit.Publication . Rodrigues Pratas, Cláudia Raquel; Veiga do Coxo, Cristina Maria; Gonçalves Branco, Vítor Alexandre; Castelo-Branco, MiguelIntroduction and objectives: Cardiac arrest (CA) is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Many studies focus on survival, but few explore the outcomes. The aim of this study is to analyze the survival curve, independence, quality of life, and performance status after CA. Methods: This retrospective study included adults admitted to the intensive care unit of Cova da Beira University Hospital Center after CA between 2015 and 2019. We analyzed patient records and applied a questionnaire including EuroQoL's EQ-5D-3L and ECOG performance status. Results: Ninety-seven patients were included (mean age 75.74 years). Thirty-one patients (32.0%) survived to hospital discharge. There was a significant loss of independence for activities of daily living, with 50.0% of those previously independent becoming dependent and 47.5% of those previously at home being institutionalized. Diabetes, female gender, and length of hospital stay were especially impactful on these findings. One year after CA, only 20.6% were alive and only 13.4% (65% of the one-year survivors) were independent. Nine patients answered our questionnaire. Mean EQ-5D quality of life index (0.528±0.297) and the most affected domains ('Pain/discomfort' and 'Anxiety/depression') were similar to the Portuguese population aged >30 years. However, 66.6% reported a decline in their quality of life. Lastly, seven respondents had a good performance status (ECOG 0-1). Conclusions: There was a significant loss of independence after CA. Moreover, despite the acceptable performance status and the quality of life results being similar to the general population, there was a perceived deterioration post-CA. Ultimately, we emphasize the need to improve care for these patients.
- Acoustic and Clinical Data Analysis of Vocal Recordings: Pandemic Insights and Lessons.Publication . Carreiro-Martins, Pedro; Paixão, Paulo; Caires, Iolanda; Matias, Pedro; Gamboa, Hugo; Soares, Filipe; Gomez, Pedro; Sousa, Joana; Neuparth, NunoBackground/Objectives: The interest in processing human speech and other human-generated audio signals as a diagnostic tool has increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project OSCAR (vOice Screening of CoronA viRus) aimed to develop an algorithm to screen for COVID-19 using a dataset of Portuguese participants with voice recordings and clinical data. Methods: This cross-sectional study aimed to characterise the pattern of sounds produced by the vocal apparatus in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection documented by a positive RT-PCR test, and to develop and validate a screening algorithm. In Phase II, the algorithm developed in Phase I was tested in a real-world setting. Results: In Phase I, after filtering, the training group consisted of 166 subjects who were effectively available to train the classification model (34.3% SARS-CoV-2 positive/65.7% SARS-CoV-2 negative). Phase II enrolled 58 participants (69.0% SARS-CoV-2 positive/31.0% SARS-CoV-2 negative). The final model achieved a sensitivity of 85%, a specificity of 88.9%, and an F1-score of 84.7%, suggesting voice screening algorithms as an attractive strategy for COVID-19 diagnosis. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the potential of a voice-based detection strategy as an alternative method for respiratory tract screening.