Objective COVID-19 is a disease with high mortality, and risk factors for worse clinical outcome have not been well-defined yet. The aim of this study is to delineate the prognostic importance of presence of concomitant cardiac injury on admission in patients with COVID-19. Methods For this multi-center retrospective study, data of consecutive patients who were treated for COVID-19 between 20 March and 20 April 2020 were collected. Clinical characteristics, laboratory findings and outcomes data were obtained from electronic medical records. In-hospital clinical outcome was compared between patients with and without cardiac injury. Results A total of 607 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 were included in the study; the median age was 62.5 ± 14.3 years, and 334 (55%) were male. Cardiac injury was detected in 150 (24.7%) of patients included in the study. Mortality rate was higher in patients with cardiac injury (42% vs. 8%; P < 0.01). The frequency of patients who required ICU (72% vs. 19%), who developed acute kidney injury (14% vs. 1%) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (71%vs. 18%) were also higher in patients with cardiac injury. In multivariate analysis, age, coronary artery disease (CAD), elevated CRP levels, and presence of cardiac injury [odds ratio (OR) 10.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.42–46.27; P < 0.001) were found to be independent predictors of mortality. In subgroup analysis, including patients free of history of CAD, presence of cardiac injury on admission also predicted mortality (OR 2.52, 95% CI 1.17–5.45; P = 0.018). Conclusion Cardiac injury on admission is associated with worse clinical outcome and higher mortality risk in COVID-19 patients including patients free of previous CAD diagnosis.

Adrenal schwannoma is an extremely uncommon cause of incidentaloma. It originates from neural sheath Schwann cells of the adrenal gland. We report the case of a left adrenal schwannoma incidentally discovered in a 32-year-old woman during examination of bloated feeling and stomach ache. The patient was incidentally found to have a left adrenal mass of 9 cm on abdominal ultrasonography. Computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen and [¹⁸F] fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) were also performed. Metabolic evaluation was unremarkable. Due to the large size of the tumor, left adrenalectomy was performed. The postoperative course was uneventful. Histological examination established the diagnosis of schwannoma. This diagnosis was supported by immunohistochemistry of S-100 and vimentin positivity. In conclusion, adrenal schwannoma is an extremely rare entity and can grow considerably in size. The present case report emphasizes that clinicians should be aware of the possibility of retroperitoneal schwannoma. Total excision of benign schwannoma is associated with a favorable outcome. To our knowledge, there are case reports of schwannoma with CT and magnetic resonance imaging findings in the literature, although this is the first schwannoma case with PET-CT imaging.

Background Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is the most prevalent autoimmune thyroid disorder. Both neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are reported to be increased in various inflammation-related diseases, but their clinical significance in HT remains unclear. Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between thyroid autommunity and NLR and PLR as markers of systemic inflammation in HT. Methods In this study, we evaluated 145 women with HT and 60 age-matched healthy controls. We compared the PLR and the NLR of HT patients with controls and the correlation between the NLR, PLR, and C-reactive protein (CRP), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroid antibody titers in the patient group. Also we compared the PLR and the NLR of HT patients that received levothyroxine with those who did not receive levothyroxine Results There were no significant differences between patient and control groups in terms of overall leukocyte counts, neutrophil counts, and other laboratory tests. In the patient group lymphocyte counts were lower while the platelet counts, NLR (2.29±0.65 vs1.68±0.40), PLR (164.95±55.14 vs106.88±32.19) were higher than those of the control (p<0.001 for all comparisons). Conclusion In this study we found that NLR and PLR were higher in euthyroid Hashimoto patients than in a healthy control group. NLR and PLR are likely non-specific indicators of immune disorder and their implications for HT and other conditions remain to be elucidated.

Purpose. To evaluate choroidal thickness in patients with coeliac disease (CD) using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and to compare the results to normal eyes. Methods. Seventy patients with CD and 70 healthy controls were included in this prospective, comparative study. All participants underwent a complete ophthalmologic evaluation and SD-OCT. Subfoveal, nasal (nasal distance to fovea 500 μm, 1000 μm, and 1500 μm), and temporal (temporal distance to fovea 500 μm, 1000 μm, and 1500 μm) choroidal thickness measurements were performed using SD-OCT. Results. There were no significant differences in sex, ages, and axial lengths between the groups (p=1.0, p=0.601, p=0.314, respectively). The mean choroidal thickness measurements at all predefined measurement point areas were higher in the coeliac group than in the healthy controls (p<0.001). Of all patients with coeliac disease (70 eyes of 70 patients), 64 eyes (84.2%) had uncomplicated pachychoroid (UCP), one eye had pachychoroid pigment epitheliopathy (PPE), and five eyes in the UCP group had PPE in fellow eyes. Conclusion. It is probable that systemic inflammation in coeliac patients causes the enlargement of choroidal vessels and increasing choroidal thickness. PPE, which is believed to be the precursor of central serous chorioretinopathy, can be observed in coeliac patients.