With COVID‐19 still hovering around and threatening the lives of many at‐risk patients, an effective, quick, and inexpensive prognostic method is required. Few studies have shown fibrinogen to albumin ratio (FAR) and C‐reactive protein to albumin ratio (CAR) to be promising as prognostic markers for COVID‐19 disease. However, their implications remain unclear. This meta‐analysis aimed to elucidate the prognostic role of FAR and CAR in COVID‐19 disease. A systematic literature search was undertaken using PubMed and Embase till April 2022. Inverse variance standardised mean difference (SMD) was calculated to report the overall effect size using random effect models. The generic inverse variance random‐effects method was used to pool the area under the curve (AUC) values. All statistical analyses were performed on Revman and MedCalc Software. A total of 23 studies were included. COVID‐19 non‐survivors had a higher CAR on admission compared with survivors (SMD = 1.79 [1.04, 2.55]; p < 0.00001; I 2 = 97%) and patients with a severe COVID‐19 infection had a higher CAR on admission than non‐severe patients (SMD = 1.21 [0.54, 1.89]; p = 0.0004; I 2 = 97%). Similarly, higher mean FAR values on admission were significantly associated with COVID‐19 mortality (SMD = 0.55 [0.32, 0.78]; p < 0.00001; I 2 = 82%). However, no significant association was found between mean FAR on admission and COVID‐19 severity (SMD = 0.54 [−0.09, 1.18]; p = 0.09; I 2 = 91%). The pooled AUC values found that CAR had a good discriminatory‐power to predict COVID‐19 severity (AUC = 0.81 [0.75, 0.86]; p < 0.00001; I 2 = 80%) and mortality (AUC = 0.81 [0.74, 0.87]; p < 0.00001; I 2 = 86%). FAR had a fair discriminatory‐power to predict COVID‐19 severity (AUC = 0.73 [0.64, 0.82]; p < 0.00001; I 2 = 89%). Overall, CAR was a good predictor of both severity and mortality associated with COVID‐19 infection. Similarly, FAR was a satisfactory predictor of COVID‐19 mortality but not severity.
Objective: Given that women of reproductive age in dengue-endemic areas are at risk of infection, it is necessary to determine whether dengue virus (DENV) infection during pregnancy is associated with adverse outcomes. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to investigate the consequences of DENV infection in pregnancy on various maternal and foetal-neonatal outcomes. Methods: A systematic literature search was undertaken using PubMed, Google Scholar, and Embase till December 2021. Mantel-Haenszel risk ratios were calculated to report overall effect size using random effect models. The pooled prevalence was computed using the random effect model. All statistical analyses were performed on MedCalc Software. Result: We obtained data from 36 studies involving 39,632 DENV-infected pregnant women. DENV infection in pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of maternal mortality (OR = 4.14 [95% CI, 1.17-14.73]), stillbirth (OR = 2.71 [95% CI, 1.44-5.10]), and neonatal deaths (OR = 3.03 [95% CI, 1.17-7.83]) compared with pregnant women without DENV infection. There was no significant statistical association established between maternal DENV infection and the outcomes of preterm birth, maternal bleeding, low birth weight in neonates, and risk of miscarriage. Pooled prevalences were 14.9% for dengue shock syndrome, 14% for preterm birth, 13.8% for maternal bleeding, 10.1% for low birth weight, 6% for miscarriages, and 5.6% for stillbirth. Conclusion: DENV infection in pregnant women may be associated with adverse outcomes such as maternal mortality, stillbirth, and neonatal mortality. Hence, pregnant women should be considered an at-risk population for dengue management programmes.
This article discusses the role of Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide antagonists available on the market in treating cluster headaches. All the treatments discussed in this article focus on either abortive, preventive, or transitional care. These therapies include Monoclonal Antibodies (Galcanezumab, Fremanezumab, Erenumab), high-flow oxygen, triptans (sumatriptan, zolmitriptan), Octreotide, non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (vagus and sphenopalatine nerves), and other medications like dihydroergotamine, lidocaine, and capsaicin. We reviewed many studies from The United States since 2015; analytical methods were utilized. Moreover, we found that some of the treatment options for CH can vary depending on efficacy and route of administration and according to categories of therapy (acute or preventive). Every treatment has a specific and unique mechanism of action, indications, contraindications, and side effects. Therefore, the recommendation of one particular treatment should be considered in the success of the treatment of Cluster Headaches. Monoclonal Antibodies against CGRP have a unique role and are considered a first alternative in treating acute CH.
Social determinants of health interfere significantly in the health-disease process. This article examines the impact of these determinants on the main pathologies addressed by the internist and the family doctor in medical care. The World Health Organization defines social determinants of health (SDH) as the circumstances in which people are born, grow, work, live and age, including the broader set of forces and systems that influence conditions of daily life. These forces and systems include economic policies and systems, development programs, social norms and policies, and political systems. The above conditions can be very different for various subgroups of a population and can lead to differences in health outcomes. It may be unavoidable that some of these conditions are different, which is considered inequalities. These social determinants influence and modify the development and course of the disease. In the pathologies exposed in this review, we found that adequate management involves a sizeable non-pharmacological component that refers to intervention in eating habits, healthy living, management of traditional cardiovascular risk factors, and monitoring disease activity. In support of the evidence, we review several meta-analyses of observational studies that allow us to infer what is the significant impact of the social determinants of health in the control or exacerbation of the pathologies described and how we can positively interfere in their evolution and outcome of disease through increasingly effective comprehensive interventions according to the current evidence described.
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