Journal of medical virology
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Review Meta Analysis
Meta-analysis of chest CT features of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.
The objective of this paper is to perform a meta-analysis regarding the chest computed tomography (CT) manifestations of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia patients. PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were searched from 1 December 2019 to 1 May 2020 using the keywords of "COVID-19 virus," "the 2019 novel coronavirus," "novel coronavirus," and "COVID-19." Studies that evaluated the CT manifestations of common and severe COVID-19 pneumonia were included. ⋯ Other CT features including ground-glass opacities (P = .404), air bronchogram (P = .070), nodule (P = .093), bronchial wall thickening (P = .15), subpleural band (P = .983), vascular enlargement (P = .207), and peripheral distribution (P = .668) did not have a significant association with the severity of the disease. No publication bias among the selected studies was suggested (Harbord's tests, P > .05 for all.) We obtained reliable estimates of the chest CT manifestations of COVID-19 pneumonia patients, which might provide an important clue for the diagnosis and classification of COVID-19 pneumonia.
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Review
Microstructure, pathophysiology, and potential therapeutics of COVID-19: A comprehensive review.
There have been over seven million cases and almost 413 372 deaths globally due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) associated disease COVID-19, as of 11 June 2020. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that there is a common source for these infections. The overall sequence similarities between the spike protein of 2019-nCoV and that of SARS-CoV are known to be around 76% to 78% and 73% to 76% for the whole protein and receptor-binding domain (RBD), respectively. ⋯ For diagnosis, the reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction is the gold standard test for initial diagnosis of COVID-19. A kit based on serological tests are also recommended for investigating the spread of COVID-19 but this is challenging due to the antibodies cross-reactivity. This review comprehensively summarizes the recent reports available regarding the host-pathogen interaction, morphological and genomic structure of the virus, and the diagnostic techniques as well as the available potential therapeutics against COVID-19.
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Current evidence suggests an important role of the interleukin-6 (IL-6) pathway in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-related cytokine release storm in severely ill coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Inhibition of the IL-6 pathway with tocilizumab has been employed successfully in some of these patients but the data is mostly consistent of case reports and series. ⋯ Recent data indicate that severe COVID-19 causes a cytokine release storm and is associated with worse clinical outcomes and IL-6 plays an important role. It is suggestive that anti-IL-6 results in the improvement of this hyperinflammatory state. However, to our knowledge, there is no individual patient data systematic review performed to summarize baseline characteristics and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients who received tocilizumab.
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The ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the novel virus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has claimed many lives worldwide. To combat the pandemic, multiple types of vaccines are under development with unprecedented rapidity. Theoretically, future vaccination against COVID-19 may fall into long-term costly guerrilla warfare between SARS-CoV-2 and humans. ⋯ These facts suggest that the rapid establishment of global herd immunity through mass vaccination using an appropriate vaccine could eliminate SARS-CoV-2. The coming 2 years are a golden time for elimination through vaccination, which requires tremendous national and international collaboration. This review also prioritizes the efficacy of vaccines for COVID-19 and elucidates the importance of the development of more live vaccines for COVID-19.
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Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has a deleterious effect on several systems, including the cardiovascular system. We aim to systematically explore the association of COVID-19 severity and mortality rate with the history of cardiovascular diseases and/or other comorbidities and cardiac injury laboratory markers. ⋯ COVID-19 severity and mortality are complicated by myocardial injury. Assessment of cardiac injury biomarkers may improve the identification of those patients at the highest risk and potentially lead to improved therapeutic approaches.