The costly hydroxychloroquine battle in Brazil Concept Article Covid-19 was first identified last November in China and now has spread all over the world. As a new viral illness, despite the standard of care, it has yet no specific treatment.

Introduction The azygos system of veins (ASV) is a very variable structure characterized as a communication between the inferior and superior vena cava, having the azygos vein (AV), the hemiazygos vein (HV), and the accessory hemiazygos vein (HAV) as its main components, which are responsible for the mediastinal viscera and for the thoracoabdominal wall drainage. The aim of the present study is to report an anatomical variation found in a male cadaver at the Laboratory of Anatomy of the University Center of UNIFACISA, Campina Grande, PB, Brazil. Case Report In the posterior mediastinum, the union of the HV, of the HAV, and of the 8th left posterior intercostal vein formed a common trunk at the level of the left 8th intercostal space, crossing the mediastinum posterior to the aorta artery, ending up in the AV, in the right hemithorax. Conclusion The study of the anatomical variations of the ASV is important and will provide knowledge for physicians not to confuse them with pathological processes in imaging exams. Moreover, it can provide safety in surgical approaches of the thorax.

The concept of preemptive analgesia, albeit long-standing, has reemerged. Consequently, recent research has focused on testing a variety of drugs preoperatively to prevent the occurrence of postoperative pain, a major factor of morbidity. Amitriptyline is a tricyclic antidepressant used to treat chronic pain. Because amitriptyline acts on pain transmission pathways, it could theoretically be used as an agent for the prevention of postoperative pain. This study evaluated the effectiveness of amitriptyline in preventing pain in patients submitted to hysterectomy, the most commonly performed gynecological surgery. A randomized, double-blind clinical trial was conducted with 145 patients, 72 of these receiving amitriptyline and 73 placebo. All patients were evaluated at 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours after surgery using a visual analog scale (VAS) for pain and algometry to determine the pressure-pain threshold. Statistical analysis was conducted using the chi-square test of association, Student's t-test, and the Mann-Whitney test, with Fisher's exact test being used whenever appropriate. No statistically signicant difference was found between the two groups with respect to pain at any of the time points evaluated, leading to the conclusion that at a dose of 25 mg, amitriptyline is ineffective in preventing postoperative pain in patients submitted to abdominal hysterectomy