Emerging evidence suggests a link between COVID-19 and the development of autoimmune conditions, including autoimmune thyroiditis. However, the prevalence and characteristics of this association remain unclear. We aimed to investigate the incidence of autoimmune thyroiditis in patients recovering from COVID-19 and explore the potential demographic and clinical risk factors associated with its development. This retrospective cohort study was conducted at Tikrit Teaching Hospital from March 2021 to January 2024. In total, 780 patients with confirmed COVID-19 were included in this study. Patients with a history of autoimmune thyroid disease were excluded. Medical records were analyzed for evidence of new-onset autoimmune thyroiditis, identified by elevated thyroid autoantibodies (thyroid peroxidase antibodies [TPOAb] and thyroglobulin antibodies [TGAb]) and abnormal thyroid function tests (TFTs) after post-COVID-19 recovery. Demographic information, details of COVID-19, and pre- and post-infection TFTs were extracted and analyzed. Of the 780 patients, 62 (7.9%) developed autoimmune thyroiditis after recovery from COVID-19. This condition was more prevalent in females (67.7% of cases) and was associated with severe COVID-19 infection (p < 0.001). Patients who developed autoimmune thyroiditis exhibited significantly higher levels of TPOAb and TGAb after infection (both p < 0.001). Thyroid function test results indicated marked changes, predominantly showing hypothyroidism. This study provides evidence for a significant association between COVID-19 and the onset of autoimmune thyroiditis, highlighting the need to monitor thyroid function in COVID-19 survivors. Further research is necessary to elucidate the mechanisms underlying this association and identify at-risk patients.

Surgical patients frequently experience anxiety and depression, associated with postoperative complications. In cases of infective diseases pandemic, patients who have undergone surgery are subjected to strict visiting restrictions (VR) during their hospitalization, which could lead to a new/unique stressful situation. The purpose in this study is to assess the effects of VR on anxiety and depression in patients who underwent surgery. This cross-sectional study included patients who underwent surgery. The questionnaire includes the presence of VR during hospitalization, clinical characteristics (e.g., age at admission, sex, and underlying diseases). The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was used to evaluate anxiety and depression with cutoff values of 8/9 points. Of the 100 patients who underwent surgery, the mean ± standard deviation of age was 50.4 ± 13.0 years (male: 46%). The most frequent underlying reason for surgery was orthopaedic disease (27.0%). Anxiety and depression were observed in 30.0% and 74.0% in the included patients, respectively. Severity of anxiety and depression in patients without VR significantly decreased after surgery. In patients with VR, although severity of anxiety significantly decreased after surgery, severity of depression did not. Multivariate analysis showed improvement of depression in patients with VR was significantly lower than that in patients without VR. Careful attention to presence and/or severity of depression would be mandatory especially in patients with depression before surgery under VR situations. Recognizing that VR affect the mental distress would be important to manage patients who underwent surgery under VR situation.

This study focuses on fire and water cases that were subjected to forensic autopsies at Hiroshima University. It aimed to compare the results of rapid urinary drug screening kits with those obtained by instrumental analysis and evaluate the usefulness of instrumental analysis. This study included 102 fire and 64 water cases. False positives due to putrefactive amines were confirmed in stimulant tests in four fire cases and 18 water cases. In addition, although this did not result in a false-positive judgment for benzodiazepines, many benzodiazepines and their metabolites in the nine fire and four water cases were identified to be below the cutoff value. Moreover, prescription and over-the-counter drugs that did not show positive on rapid urinary drug screening kits were detected in fire and water cases, and drug concentrations in the blood reached toxic and lethal levels in three cases. The results of this study confirmed false positives and false negatives, and that there are many drugs that cannot be detected using rapid urinary drug screening kits. Although analytical instruments are expensive and require some specialized operators, its ability to detect a far greater variety of substances than rapid urinary drug screening kits makes it invaluable. In the future, drug testing using equipment should become more widespread in forensic science laboratories.