Internal and emergency medicine
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Observational Study
CovHos score for predicting severe respiratory failure in COVID-19 patients presenting at the emergency department.
Hospitalization of COVID-19 patients in low-intensity wards may put patients at risk in case of clinical deterioration. We tested CovHos score in predicting severe respiratory failure (SFR) at emergency department (ED) admission. This is a monocentric observational prospective study enrolling adult COVID-19 patients admitted to the ED of IRCCS AOU di Bologna Policlinico S. ⋯ In patients with symptoms onset up to 8 days, a CovHos cut-off of 22 was able to predict SRF with a sensitivity of 91.7% and a specificity of 78.6% (AUROC 0.901; CI 95% 0.861-0.941). Negative predictive value (NPV) was 97.1%. A CovHos score lower than 22, in patients with COVID-19 symptoms onset dated 8 or less days prior to the ED admittance, had a NPV of 97.1% for the development of SRF, meaning that almost none of those patients will evolve into SRF and could be therefore suitable for a lower intensity of care.
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The long-term consequences of COVID-19 in those who recover from acute infection requiring hospitalization have not been defined yet. In this study, we aim to describe the long-term symptoms and respiratory outcomes over 12 months in patients hospitalized for severe COVID-19. In this prospective cohort study, patients admitted to hospital for severe COVID-19 were prospectively followed up at 6 and 12 months after discharge from the Hospital of Fermo, Italy. ⋯ Persistent radiographic abnormalities, most commonly ground-glass opacities and interstitial changes, were observed at both timepoints in many patients. Long-term symptoms and pulmonary deficits are common in patients admitted for severe COVID-19. Further studies are needed to assess the clinical significance of long-term consequences of severe COVID-19.
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During the Coronavirus-19 pandemic, chest X-ray scoring system have been validated by Al-Smadi and Toussie in this group of patients and even RALE score, previously designed for ARDS, have been used to estimate correlation with mortality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of As-Smadi, Tuossie and RALE scores in predicting death in the same population of patients when associated to clinical data. In this retrospective clinical study, data of patients with COVID-19, admitted to our hospital from 1st October 2020 to 31st December 2020 were collected. ⋯ The fraction of new information is 16.7% for the Al Smadi score, 12.9% for the RALE and 5.1% for the Toussie score. The improvement in the prognostic usefulness with respect to the base model is particularly interesting for the Al Smadi score. The highest c-index was also obtained by the model with the Al Smadi score.
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Respiratory failure related to COVID-19 may evolve into acute respiratory distress syndrome, which may require invasive treatment. Through the analysis of a concrete clinical case, we want to clarify how to manage patients suffering from serious acute pathologies, which require timely intervention, even invasive, but refuse medical treatment. The Italian law 219/2017 states strongly the freedom of the patient to choose, independently whether to start or stop at any time any type of medical treatment through their informed consent. ⋯ The law also provides that if the patient refuses therapies or interventions, putting his life at risk, the doctors need to engage in further communication with the support of other professionals, informing the patient of the consequences, promoting every support action, and involving family members. Judgment on the level of impaired capacity, which makes a patient incompetent to make therapeutic decisions, should ideally reflect the balance between respecting patient autonomy and protecting the patient from the consequences of a wrong decision. For the physicians, it is a matter of balancing the need to save the life of the person, or at least to avoid the establishment of permanent damage, with the subject itself expressly stated, including an explicit refusal to carry out maneuvers or therapies or interventions when it is in danger of life, even if such treatments could save it.
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A substantial drop in emergency department (ED) visit volume was previously demonstrated at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ A substantial decline in non-COVID ED visits and excess mortality at the beginning of the pandemic, are probably the results of social distancing restrictions alongside patients' fear of exposure to COVID-19, which gradually moderated thereafter, until near normalization was reached after 14 months. Gradual return to pre-pandemic ED utilization patterns were noticed as the population and the healthcare system acclimatize to life alongside COVID.