Data on the clinical features and outcomes of COVID-19 patients from countries with low disease burden are rare. Greece, however, presented a low burden of COVID-19 disease during the rst pandemic outbreak. This is a retrospective study of COVID-19 hospitalized patients in Greece. Clinical data were extracted from medical records using univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis to assess the factors associated with ICU admission and in-hospital death. Eighty ve patients were included in this study, 49 (57.7%) male with median (25 th-75 th) age 60 (49-72) years old. Sixty-one (72%) of them had at least one comorbidity with hypertension being the most common (45,6%). More than half (56%) had severe or critical disease, 20% required ICU care (14% received invasive ventilation) and 10.7% died. Solid tumor (p=0.021) and NEWS score (p=0.048), thrombocytopenia (p=0.036) or involvement of all lung elds in chest x-ray (p=0.002) on admission were independent risk factors of ICU admission. Immunosuppression (p=0.032) and thrombocytopenia (p=0.049) were independent predictors of death. Hospitalized COVID-19 patients in a European country with a low burden of the disease, in which hospital capacities had not been overwhelmed, had lower mortality rate compared to those reported patients hospitalized in regions with a high burden of the disease.

Background: : The coexistence of two or more types of lymphoma within the same organ at the same time of diagnosis is defined as composite lymphoma, a rare disease that has recently been identified in the literature. Pointedly, the concurrence may be Hodgkin lymphoma with a Non-Hodgkin lymphoma [NHL], either B or T cells, or two different entities of NHLs. Furthermore, this condition has been described concurrently or sequentially. In order for the diagnosis to be established, two or more distinct clones should be proven by morphological and laboratory tests. Case presentation:: Herein, we cite a seventy-three-year old female patient with low-grade fever, waxing and waning cervical lymphadenopathy, whose biopsy of an axillary lymph node demonstrated the rare coexistence of Hodgkin and NHL, known as composite lymphoma. Conclusion: : Composite lymphomas pose a particular diagnostic challenge, and currently, there are no agreed standards for treatment.

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Pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) is a clinical entity comprising severe normochromic normocytic anemia, reticulocytopenia, erythroblastopenia in the bone marrow, with normal leukocyte and platelets count. PRCA can be classified into congenital and acquired, with the latter characterized as idiopathic or secondary to various infections, hematological malignancies, collagen vascular diseases, thymoma, and exposure to a variety of drugs and other chemical substances. Herein, we present a female patient, who presented with PRCA due to azathioprine treatment. Prompt discontinuation of the drug together with red blood cells transfusions led to complete recovery in this young patient, without any addition of immunosuppressive regimen.

Although the lungs were considered to be sterile until recently, the advent of molecular biology techniques, such as polymerase chain reaction, 16 S rRNA sequencing and metagenomics has led to our expanding knowledge of the lung microbiome. These methods may be particularly useful for the identification of the causative agent(s) in cases of aspiration pneumonia, in which there is usually prior administration of antibiotics. The most common empirical treatment of aspiration pneumonia is the administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics; however, this may result in negative cultures from specimens taken from the respiratory tract. Therefore, in such cases, polymerase chain reaction or metagenomic next-generation sequencing may be life-saving. Moreover, these modern molecular methods may assist with antimicrobial stewardship. Based upon factors such as age, altered mental consciousness and recent hospitalization, there is a shift towards the predominance of aerobes, especially Gram-negative bacteria, over anaerobes in aspiration pneumonia. Thus, the therapeutic choices should be expanded to cover multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria in selected cases of aspiration pneumonia.