Short Communication


What if no Specific Treatment or Vaccine Develops, in the Status of COVID-19 Pandemic?

Noosha Samieefar, Reza Yari Boroujeni, Delaram Zare, Shaghayegh Najari, Fatemeh Shiravi, Melika Mashhadi, Mahdieh Sheikh

School of Medicine Students' Journal, Vol. 2 No. 2 (2020), 1 June 2020, Page 1-2
https://doi.org/10.22037/smsj.v2i1.29892

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is leading to a great number of mortalities throughout the world these days. To date, no specific drug or vaccine has been developed so the only available options are preventive strategies like quarantine. In summer, the transmission rate of this virus may reduce, however, it is possible that the disease prevails and becomes endemic.

Review


Therapeutic Options and Critical Care Strategies in COVID-19 Patients; Where Do We Stand in This Battle?

Siamak Afaghi, Farzad Esmaeili Tarki, Fatemeh Sadat Rahimi, Seyed Sina Naghibi Irvani, Sara Besharat, Nasser Malekpour Alamdari, Leyla Bagheri

School of Medicine Students' Journal, Vol. 2 No. 2 (2020), 1 June 2020, Page 3-12
https://doi.org/10.22037/smsj.v2i2.30312

A pandemic of COVID-19 made an appearance in Wuhan, China, in late December 2019 and rapidly became a serious concern worldwide, with killing more than 238000 people until 3rd May 2020. Given the fact that a vaccine against the virus probably won’t be available anytime in the near future, the therapeutic strategies have become more prominent. Many supposedly effective drugs are under evaluation which may hinder the replication of SARS-CoV-2, and subsequently the infection. Lately on 1th may 2020, FDA authorized the use of experimental drug, Remdesivir for "emergency purpose" in COVID-19 cases. Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, among the very first under-trial drugs, have been revealed to have promising impacts in treatment of SARS-CoV2. Broad-spectrum antivirals as well as HIV protease-inhibitors are still subject to assessment. Particularly angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) inhibitors are increasingly taken into consideration because of ACE2 being recognized as a host-cell receptor for COVID-19. Immune-Enhancement therapy by Interferons and Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) has been shown to be effective in some cases. Moreover, Convalescent Plasma Therapy and auxiliary blood purification were considered as the treatment of SARS-CoV2 infection. Among the critically ill patients, Oxygen-therapy, timely usage of inflammatory inhibitors, and controlling viral shedding by antivirals may reduce the mortality and morbidity of COVID-19.

Systematic Review


Potential pharmacologic treatments for COVID-19 patients: A review study

Zeinab Cheraghi, Muhammadhosein Moradi, Seyed Ali Ziai

School of Medicine Students' Journal, Vol. 2 No. 2 (2020), 1 June 2020, Page 14-20
https://doi.org/10.22037/smsj.v2i2.30323

A cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown origin was detected on December 31th which led to the discovery of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Lungs are the primary site of involvement. SARS-COV-2, which is the causative agent, enters the alveolar cells using ACE2 as a receptor. Due to exposure of first cases to Wuhan’s animal market, a zoonotic transmission was suspected. Further studies suggested human to human transmission through contact and droplets. Symptoms vary from asymptomatic to acute respiratory distress syndrome and death. Cases are diagnosed based on clinical and laboratory findings. Currently, there is no definitive treatment or vaccine and different antiviral and other treatments are being tested as possible therapeutic agents with different mechanisms, for example, Chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, favipiravir, umifenovir, ribavirin, Ivermectin, etc.

SMSJ Pediatrics


Vaginal foreign body in a 4 year old girl: a case report

Niloufar Bineshfar, Alireza Mirahmadi, Fereshteh Karbasian, Amirhossein Hosseini, Leily Mohajerzadeh, Soheila Vaghefi

School of Medicine Students' Journal, Vol. 2 No. 2 (2020), 1 June 2020, Page 21-22
https://doi.org/10.22037/smsj.v2i2.29981

Vaginal foreign body is an uncommon clinical entity in the pediatric population but it is more common in mentally retarded and young children. In this case report, we present a 4-year-old girl who was brought to the emergency room with a history of self-insertion of a pen cap into the vaginal orifice which had no vaginal bleeding, vaginal discharge, abdominal pain or urinary symptoms.

A Rare Case Report of Duodenal Adenocarcinoma Accompanied by Cerebellar Medulloblastoma

Siamak Afaghi, Nastaran Khoshpour, Amirhossein Hosseini, Farzad Esmaeili Tarki, Fatemeh Sadat Rahimi, Yalda Nilipour, Naghi Dara, Negar Imanzadeh

School of Medicine Students' Journal, Vol. 2 No. 2 (2020), 1 June 2020, Page 23-26
https://doi.org/10.22037/smsj.v2i2.29987

A case of a 6-year-old female with a diagnosis of Duodenal Adenocarcinoma is presented by the authors, in which 24 months subsequent to undergoing radiation therapy for a Cerebellar Medulloblastomas, the mentioned diagnosis has been confirmed. Although, the chance of a secondary malignancy has been recognized to be elevated in children formerly undergone radiation therapy, the incidence of duodenal adenocarcinoma is a highly infrequent condition. As a consideration, observing manifestations like weight loss, vomiting, and icterus in a pediatric patient who has been administered earlier on with radiation therapy, must alert physicians that the risk of a gastrointestinal malignancy exists.

Autoimmune pancreatitis as a very rare cause of recurrent pancreatitis in children; a case report and review of literature

Niloufar Shashaani, Amirhossein Hosseini, Negar Imanzadeh, Naghi Dara, Rahman Matani, Aliakbar Sayyari

School of Medicine Students' Journal, Vol. 2 No. 2 (2020), 1 June 2020, Page 27-29
https://doi.org/10.22037/smsj.v2i2.29994

Autoimmune pancreatitis as chronic inflammation of the pancreas due to an autoimmune mechanism is a rare type of pancreatitis. A 14 years old girl presented with multiple episodes of abdominal pain, nausea with elevation of amylase and lipase suspicions of acute recurrent pancreatitis since 3 years of age. After through evaluation about secondary causes of recurrent and familial pancreatitis finally she responded to corticosteroid treatment. Although very rare but autoimmune processes should be considered in teenagers with recurrent pancreatitis.