Pesticide poisoning in pediatric patients is still an important reason for presenting to the emergency department in Romania. In this context, the present study aims to raise awareness of the toxicological impact of pesticides on human health in pediatrics. For this purpose, the demographic characteristics, clinical assessment, and outcome of pediatric patients with acute pesticide poisoning admitted to the toxicology department of “Saint Mary” Emergency Children’s Hospital from Iasi, were analyzed. This retrospective study focused on the clinical and laboratory data of patients aged under 18 years diagnosed with acute pesticide poisoning between 2010–2020. The statistical analysis was performed using the Statistica 10 package. A total of 49 patients presented with manifestations of acute pesticide poisoning, and the most common pesticide involved was diazinon. The most frequent exposure route was accidentally ingesting pesticide products (95%). The primary clinical manifestations were toxic encephalopathy, coma, depressive disorder, gastric disorders, and respiratory failure. Changes in the glycemic status, liver, and kidney damage were also present. Treatment included decontamination, administration of antidote, supportive care, and recommendations to be closely monitored to avoid a new incident. These results highlight the toxic potential of pesticides on human health and their biological consequences, which require an increase in consciousness of the precautions imposed on their use, especially when children are nearby.

Tobacco consumption is the most incriminated and studied risk factor for Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but other factors such as air pollution, are also linked to this disease. One of the known aspects of this chronic lung disease is that its occurrence is mainly due to the chronic inflammation of the airways. Lipid metabolism seems to be affected by smoking, with studies showing a correlation between this habit and high levels of triglycerides and low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-CHOL). Uric acid concentration is thought to reflect the antioxidative capacity of the body because it is the most abundant aqueous antioxidant. The aim of this study was to investigate the lipid profile and biochemical parameters of COPD patients in relation to smoking status. The present study was conducted between 2020 and 2021 in the Clinical Hospital of Pneumology in Iasi, Romania. Patients diagnosed with COPD (n = 52) were included and divided in three groups depending on their smoking status: non-smokers, smokers and ex-smokers. The obtained results show low correlations between COPD stages and serum uric acid concentrations (r = 0.4; p ˂ 0.05), smoking status (smoker/non-smoker/ex-smoker) and total serum cholesterol values (r = 0.45; p ˂ 0.05), but also between serum urea concentrations and the number of packs-years for the smoker/ex-smoker groups (r = 0.45, p ˂ 0.05). Smoking was associated with changes in the lipid profile of smokers and ex-smokers, along with increased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-CHOL) and low serum uric acid values.

Introduction: COVID-19 was the turning point of 2020, endangering the health of the entire population around the world. Among other therapeutic methods and supportive measures, physiotherapy represents a useful intervention applied on COVID-19 patients suffering from respiratory symptoms, this being supported by recent literature data. Materials and Methods: The study was performed on 45 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 (28 men, 17 women, mean age = 65.03, standard deviation = 14.83). They participated for 2 weeks (the required period of hospitalization) to a series of 14 physiotherapy sessions, which included: position changing, respiratory control, passive joint movements, bed workout, and walking exercises. Depending on the status of the patient, two distinct types of physiotherapy were performed (mild and active). The status of the patients was assessed through a basic assessment of the vital signs, range of motion, degree of dyspnea, and also through the UZ Leuven Start To Move protocol (STMP). The statistical analysis of the data was performed using the Statistica 10 program and included the Spearman correlations (for measuring the strength and direction of association between the ranked variables), the Mann-Whitney test (for measuring the significance of the differences between the groups of patients who undergone light vs. active physiotherapy) and factor analysis (for assessing the changes of the clinical parameters investigated in the study, depending on the type of applied therapy). All differences were considered significant at p < 0.05. Results: The majority of patients (n = 38) benefited from physiotherapy, with the complete disappearance of symptoms met only in the group of patients who followed active physiotherapy. These effects depended on the applied type of physiotherapy (mild vs. active, p = 0.47). In contrast, all patients who were unable to perform physiotherapy (n = 7) remained symptomatic at discharge. Conclusion: The results of this study point out the significant additional role of physiotherapy for a better management of COVID-19 patients. More studies are needed to investigate not only the impact that physiotherapy has on the symptoms of this disease, but also its effects on effort capacity, muscle strength and lung capacity.

One of the leading risk factors for environmental health problems is air pollution. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that this risk factor is associated with one of every nine deaths worldwide. Epidemiological studies conducted in this field have shown a solid connection between respiratory pathology and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure. COPD and asthma are respiratory diseases that were shown to have a strong association with exposure to PAHs. The purpose of the present study was to assess the serum levels of 15 PAHs in 102 COPD patients and to evaluate the results according to the residence environment of the investigated subjects. Analyses were carried out using a high-performance liquid chromatograph Nexera X2—Shimadzu Japan, which was equipped with an LC–30AD pump and an SIL–30AC autosampler. Spiked matrices, procedure blanks, spiked controls, and calibration standards in the acetonitrile were used as quality-assurance samples. Benzo(a)pyrene is the main representative of PAHs and was determined in higher concentrations in subjects with COPD versus the control group from the urban area (0.90/0.47 ng/mL) and rural area (0.73/0.44 ng/mL). The values obtained for the Benzo(a)pyrene-equivalent factor indicate a higher carcinogenic potential for patients diagnosed with COPD in urban areas compared to those in rural areas. These results could be due to traffic and vehicle emissions. This research identifies the need for legislative action to decrease semi-volatile organic compounds, especially PAHs, mainly in urban cities, in order to improve environmental management and health conditions.

Introduction: The rapid progression of COVID-19 disease and its increasing burden on health systems inmpose identification of clinical parameters of severe infection to help monitoring diagnosis and treatment response. Aim: To identify potential biomarkers of COVID-19 pneumonia severity, useful for rapid diagnostic and disease prognostic. Methods: The data from 97 patients diagnosed with different forms as COVID-19 were retrospectively analyzed. Biochemical (lactat dehydrogenase (LDH), C-reactive protein (CRP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), glucose) and hematological parameters ( lymphocytes, eosinophils, platelets) were investigated as potential indicators of the severity of the COVID-19 pneumonia. Results: Concentrations profile of LDH, CRP and LDH/lymphocite ratio in terms of median and standard error in severe and non-severe COVID 19 cases are ilustrated in Figure 1. The correlation matrix between the biochemical and the hematological parameters used in diagnosing severe and non-severe forms had significant correlation coefficients (r=0.39–0.96; p˂0,05). Conclusions: Statistical results showed that LDH could be identified as a powerful predictive factor for early recognition of severe and non-severe COVID-19 pneumonia. CRP, LDH/lymphocyte ratio were also dynamically correlated with the severity of the disease.