OBJECTIVE: Clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis is often difficult and involves a synthesis of clinical, laboratory, and radiological findings. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the systemic immune inflammation index can be used as an effective parameter in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis and its reliability in the differentiation of complicated vs. non-complicated appendicitis. METHODS: The study was conducted retrospectively with patients admitted to the emergency department with abdominal pain and diagnosed with acute appendicitis. In total, 150 patients and 150 control cases were included in the study. Demographic data, medical history, white blood cell count, platelet count, neutrophil count, systemic immune inflammation index values, Alvarado score, adult appendicitis score, and pathology result of appendectomy material were retrieved from the hospital automation system and recorded in the data form. RESULTS: Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio and systemic immune inflammation index were significantly higher, and platelet-neutrophil ratio and lymphocyteneutrophil ratio were significantly lower in the patient group compared to the control group (p<0.001). Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that the sensitivity and specificity of systemic immune inflammation index with a cutoff value of 840.13 was 82 and 66.7%, respectively, for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. Correlation analysis revealed that systemic immune inflammation index, Alvarado score, and adult appendicitis score were positively correlated, and this correlation was statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Systemic immune inflammation index may be used to promote the diagnosis of acute appendicitis and may reduce the need for radiation exposure and diagnostic imaging tests such as contrast-enhanced abdominal computed tomography. It can also be used to differentiate between complicated and non-complicated acute appendicitis cases.

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Objective: Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an agent of the pandemic coronavirus disease-2019 . New variants that have emerged throughout these pandemic presented new challenges and made the disease control process even more difficult. In our study, we aimed to investigate the effect of variants on the progression of COVID-19 and add value to the medical literature by providing valuable information. Materials and Methods:The current study was designed as a retrospective and single-center study. Three thousand and a hundred and ninetythree patients whose SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction tests came positive between June 1, 2020, and June 1, 2021, were included in the study. Demographic data and the medical history of patients were collected and recorded. The statistical significance level sought was p<0.05.Results: Fifty percent of the cases were male and the mean age was 39.5 years. Among the variant types, the lowest median age was observed in the beta variant. Alpha is the most contagious SARS-CoV-2 variant, and the highest mortality was seen in the delta variant. Considering all SARS-CoV-2 variants, the most common patient complaints were dyspnea and fever. In fatal cases, blood pressure and saturation levels were low, whereas pulse rate and body temperature was higher. Additionally, compared to the non-fatal cases, the median age was higher in fatal cases, 39 years to 55 years. Most of the fatalities occurred in patients who required intensive care unit (ICU) admission. The mortality was low in people with double-dose vaccination, regardless of the variant types. Conclusion:In this study, SARS-CoV-2 alpha variant was found to be more contagious, and the delta variant appeared more fatal. Patients with delta variant could be at a high risk of morbidity and mortality. Therefore, meticulous patient care should be delivered to patients with the delta variants, no history of the double-dose of vaccination, patients with unstable vital parameters, and patients who were admitted to the ICU.