1.
Proportion of Hematological Cancer Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infection during the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Jafari M, Dastgheib SA, Ferdosian F, Mirjalili H, Aarafi H, Noorishadkam M, Mazaheri M, Neamatzadeh H
Hematology, transfusion and cell therapy. 2021
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a novel infection which has spread rapidly across the globe and currently presents a grave threat to the health of the cancer patient. OBJECTIVE The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the proportion of hematological cancer patients with the SARS-CoV-2 infection during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD A comprehensive literature review was performed on PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, EKB SciELO, SID, CNKI and Wanfang databases to retrieve all relevant publications up to January 31, 2021. Observational studies, consecutive case-series and case-control studies were included. The proportion for hematological cancer patients with COVID-19 was estimated using the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (95% CIs). RESULTS Fourteen studies with a total of 3,770 infected cancer patients and 685 hematological cancer cases with COVID-19 were selected. Combined data revealed that the overall proportion of hematological cancer patients with COVID-19 was 16.5% (95% CI 0.130 - 0.208, p ≤ 0.001). The stratified analysis by ethnicity showed that the proportion was 18.8% and 12.4% in Caucasian and Asian hematological cancer patients with COVID-19, respectively. Moreover, subgroup analysis by country of origin showed that its proportion was the highest in the United Kingdom (22.5%), followed by France (17.1%) and China (8.2%). CONCLUSION This meta-analysis result indicated that the proportion of hematological cancer patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection during the COVID-19 pandemic was 16.5%. Further larger sample sizes and multicenter studies among different ethnic groups are necessary to get a better assessment of the proportion.
2.
The effect of intravenous tranexamic acid on preventing the progress of cerebral hemorrhage in patients with brain traumatic injuries compared to placebo: A randomized clinical trial
Mojallal F, Nikooieh M, Hajimaghsoudi M, Baqherabadi M, Jafari M, Esmaeili A, Karimi NM, Zarepur E
Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran. 2020;34:107
Abstract
Background: Head trauma is one of the common reasons for patient attendance in the emergency ward. This study investigated the effect of tranexamic acid as a cheap, easily available antifibrinolytic drug on reducing the progress of cerebral hemorrhage compared to placebo. Methods: This double-blind controlled clinical trial was performed on 120 traumatized patients presenting to the emergency room of Shahid Rahnemoon hospital during 2014-2015, Yazd, Iran. Those patients who met the inclusion criteria were randomly allocated into 2 groups. Group A received tranexamic acid, while group B received placebo parenterally. Finally, 56 patients in Group A and 44 in Group B were analyzed. The patients underwent brain CT scan and were followed up for ICU stay in days. Also, the number of patients who died during the first 7 days of hospitalization was recorded. The data were analyzed with SPSS20 using independent samples t test and chi-square test. Results: The mean age of the patients was 41±20.27 years. Also, 20 patients (20%) were female and 80 were male (80%). There was no significant difference between the drug group and placebo group in the rate of hemorrhage volume progress (p=0.824). Regarding patients' ICU stay, the ICU stay of the tranexamic acid group decreased significantly compared to the placebo group (p=0.001). No significant difference was found between the intervention group and placebo group in the mortality rate of patients during the first 7 days of hospitalization (p=0.236). Conclusion: Tranexamic acid has no effect on reducing cerebral hemorrhage volume in patients. Although this drug was not effective in reducing mortality rate in patients, it decreased their ICU stay.