We demonstrated the association of altered biochemical and hematological factors with hypertension supporting the value of emerging markers for early prediction of high blood pressure in prone individuals.

Background The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the chest computed tomography (CT) findings in infants with confirmed COVID-19 infection by providing a comprehensive review of the existing literature. Data sources A systematic search was conducted on PubMed and Embase from the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak to October 20, 2020, for studies that discussed the chest CT findings in infants younger than 1 year with COVID-19 infection. Results A total of 35 studies comprising 70 COVID-19 (58.5% boys) confirmed infants were included. The mean age of the included patients was 4.1 months with a range of 1 day to 12 months. Chest CT scans showed bilateral abnormalities in 34 patients, and unilateral lung involvement in 25 patients. Ground-glass opacities (GGO) (71.43%) were found to be the most prevalent chest CT manifestation, followed by peribronchial thickening (60%), linear or band-shaped opacities (32.8%), consolidation (28.57%), nodule (18.57%), effusion (7.14%) and focal lucency (7.14%). Conclusions GGO and peribronchial thickening were the most prevalent findings in the infants’ chest CT scans. Linear or band-shaped opacities, consolidation, and pulmonary nodules are more common in infants than in adults. These findings suggest that the disease is more likely to be presented as an atypical pneumonia (peribronchial thickening and linear or band-shaped opacities) in this age group. Other chest CT scan manifestations can be classified as typical COVID-19 infection (peripheral GGO), lobar pneumonia (consolidation) and opportunistic infections (pulmonary nodules). Supplementary Information The online version of this article (10.1007/s12519-021-00424-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background and Aims. Visceral adiposity index (VAI) is a novel marker of fat distribution and function which incorporates both anthropometric and laboratory measures. Recently, several studies have suggested VAI as a screening tool for metabolic syndrome (MetS). Here, we aimed to consolidate the results of these studies by performing a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods and Results. We searched PubMed and EMBASE online databases for eligible studies that investigated the association of VAI and MetS. After reviewing 294 records, we included 33 eligible papers with a sum of 20516 MetS and 53242 healthy participants. The risk of bias in the included studies was assessed, and the relevant data was extracted. All included studies reported a significant association between VAI and MetS screening, but were highly heterogeneous in their reported effects. We pooled the diagnostic test accuracy metrics of VAI for MetS screening and showed that it has a moderate-to-high accuracy with an area under the summary receiver operating characteristics curve of 0.847, a pooled sensitivity of 78%, and a pooled specificity of 79%. Besides, we pooled the difference in means of VAI between patients with MetS and healthy controls, revealing that VAI was 2.15 units higher in MetS patients. Conclusions. VAI is an accurate, low-cost, and widely available screening marker for MetS. However, further studies are needed to evaluate its applicability in clinical practice, determine an optimal cut-off, and identify populations that would benefit the most from it.

Inherited cardiomyopathies are a prevalent cause of heart failure and sudden cardiac death. Both hypertrophic (HCM) and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) are genetically heterogeneous and typically present with an autosomal dominant mode of transmission. Whole exome sequencing and autozygosity mapping was carried out in eight un-related probands from consanguineous Middle Eastern families presenting with HCM/DCM followed by bioinformatic and co-segregation analysis to predict the potential pathogenicity of candidate variants. We identified homozygous missense variants in TNNI3K, DSP, and RBCK1 linked with a dilated phenotype, in NRAP linked with a mixed phenotype of dilated/hypertrophic, and in KLHL24 linked with a mixed phenotype of dilated/hypertrophic and non-compaction features. Co-segregation analysis in family members confirmed autosomal recessive inheritance presenting in early childhood/early adulthood. Our findings add to the mutational spectrum of recessive cardiomyopathies, supporting inclusion of KLHL24, NRAP and RBCK1 as disease-causing genes. We also provide evidence for novel (recessive) modes of inheritance of a well-established gene TNNI3K and expand our knowledge of the clinical heterogeneity of cardiomyopathies. A greater understanding of the genetic causes of recessive cardiomyopathies has major implications for diagnosis and screening, particularly in underrepresented populations, such as those of the Middle East.

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