Introduction: The homeostasis of magnesium (Mg) is perturbed in chronic kidney disease. It has been supposed that plasma Mg has a principal role to regulate the secretion of parathyroid hormone (PTH). Plasma Mg is capable of modulating secretion of PTH. Recent investigations showed that low serum Mg levels in patients with kidney disease have been linked to increased mortality. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between serum Mg and PTH levels in hemodialysis patients. Patients and Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted on 56 hemodialysis patients in hemodialysis center of Hajar hospital of Shahrekord in 2015. Regular hemodialysis patients who had at least three months history of dialysis were enrolled to the study. The serum levels of Mg, calcium, phosphorus, intact PTH (iPTH), alkaline phosphatase, albumin and bicarbonate were measured. Results: In this study, 61.5% of the 52 patients were male. Mean ± standard deviation (SD) of patients' age was 60.5 ± 17.7 years with median of 63 years old. The average duration of dialysis was 44±39.5 months (median 36 months). Additionally the dialysis dose was 517 ± 479 weeks (median; 414 weeks). Mean ± SD of serum iPTH and Mg were 360.1 ± 238.2 pg/mL and 2.2 ± 0.2 mg/mL respectively. In this study we found a significantly positive correlation of iPTH with serum Mg levels (r = 0.28, P = 0.04). Conclusion: This study shows impact of Mg on parathormone secretion. Our findings require further investigations with larger and multicentric studies. Please cite this paper as: Fooladgar M, Malekpour A, Asgari-Savadjani S, Mardani S. Serum magnesium in association with parathyroid hormone levels in routine hemodialysis patients. J Parathyr Dis. 2018;6(1):13-15.

In this paper, we describe a case of COVID-19 pneumonia complicated by alveolar air leakage syndrome without prior positive pressure ventilation. Our patient was a 55-year-old non-smoker male with a previous history of marginal B-cell lymphoma diagnosed ten years ago who presented to the emergency department with cough, dyspnea, and respiratory distress. The COVID-19 diagnosis was confirmed based on a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The unenhanced chest computed tomography (CT) obtained on the first day of admission demonstrated bilateral multifocal ground-glass opacities and consolidation, extensive pneumomediastinum, bilateral pneumothorax, a rim of pneumopericardium, and right-sided subcutaneous emphysema. Despite the initiation of supportive care, antiviral and antibiotic therapy, he passed away due to septic shock. In conclusion, spontaneous alveolar air leakage, characterized by spontaneous pneumomediastinum, pneumopericardium, pneumothorax, and subcutaneous emphysema, is a rare complication of COVID-19, which may be linked with a severe course of the disease.

No abstract

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 disease) is caused by SARS-CoV-2. In December 2019, several outbreaks of severe and life-threatening pneumonia with unknown organism were reported in Wuhan, China and the disease spread rapidly all over the world and caused the biggest pandemic. There was no clear information regarding incidence, morbidity, and mortality rate of COVID-19 disease in kidney transplant recipients or other solid organ transplant recipients. Therefore, we designed a study to evaluate the factors that can have any impact on kidney transplant recipients infected with SARS-Cov2. Methods: Our research was a retrospective cross-sectional study. The study population was all adult kidney transplant recipients (> 18 years old) who were hospitalized due to COVID-19 disease according to national guidelines from 1st March, 2020 to 20th April, 2020 in Shariati Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Demographic data, common clinical complaints, vital signs, types and dose of immunosuppressive drugs, comorbidity diseases, and basic laboratory tests were extracted from the medical records using a data collection form. Results: According to the results of our investigation, mortality rate was 69.2% in kidney transplant recipients who were admitted in our hospital. No one died under the age of 47 years, while no one survived over the age of 58 years. As a result, age can be a reliable predictor of survival rate in kidney transplant recipients with COVID-19 pneumonia. All patients in non- survivors’ group were elderly and needed intubation, mechanical ventilation, and renal replacement. Conclusion: In addition to early referral and early start of appropriate and specific treatments of COVID-19 in patients with kidney transplantation, our general advice, is discontinuation of antimetabolite drugs at admission time, dose reduction of calcineurin inhibitors, and even withdrawal of all immunosuppressive drugs except steroids in critical cases.

Introduction: Dysregulated lipid profile has been described in patients with chronic renal failure. Objectives: In the present study, we investigated the association of serum magnesium level with serum triglyceride and cholesterol levels in a group of hemodialysis individuals. Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on hemodialysis patients referred to the Hajar hospital of Shahrekord (2015). Patients who have been on hemodialysis for at least three months and had a stable condition for the last two months were recruited. Serum levels of magnesium, cholesterol, and triglyceride were measured, and the data was analyzed. Results: Of 52 patients, 61.5% were males. The mean age of the patients was 60.17 ± 48.70 (range; 13-78) years and the mean dialysis duration was 44.39 ± 05.52 months. Serum magnesium was inversely and insignificantly correlated with serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Serum magnesium was significantly associated with serum albumin and parathormone. Conclusion: We found non-significant and inverse correlations of serum magnesium with serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The association between serum magnesium and dyslipidemia is contradictory, and further studies are required to divulge the role of other contributing factors.