Healthcare providers' experiences in hospital resuscitation of patients with COVID-19: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 epidemic has globally challenged medical practices, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Numerous challenges affect healthcare providers (HCPs) who are members of the resuscitation team and the resuscitation process in COVID-19 patients. As a result, HCPs may experience different dilemmas about CPR. Failure to recognize these experiences can harm both HCPs and patients. This study aimed to explore the HCP's experiences of CPR in patients with COVID-19. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 26 participants in the emergency departments of Besat, Golestan, and Imam Reza hospitals (in the west of Iran) using the hermeneutic phenomenology approach. The data were analyzed using the 6-step Smith interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) method. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 38 years. Most of them (61.5%) were male and had a Bachelor's degree in nursing (46.1%).The data analysis resulted in extracting four super-ordinate and nine sub-ordinate themes. "Human aspects of Care", "Perceived Psychological Effects of Resuscitation in COVID-19", "HCP's perceptions of factors affecting the resuscitation process in COVID-19", and "Perceived differences in COVID-19 resuscitation compared to non-COVID patients" were super-ordinate themes. CONCLUSIONS: The participants experienced a wide range of difficult feelings and emotions while resuscitating the patients with COVID-19, suggesting the effect of the COVID-19 epidemic on HCPs and the resuscitation process. They experienced stress and fear, and the resuscitation process was influenced by their compassion, underlying patient conditions, resuscitation futility, and participants' fatigue or lack of oxygen due to the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Comparing Outcomes of Two Antiviral Therapy Combinations among COVID-19 Patients

Several therapeutic regimens for COVID-19 have been studied, such as combination antiviral therapies. We aimed to compare outcome of two types of combination therapies atazanavir/ritonavir (ATV/r) or lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) plus hydroxychloroquine among COVID-19 patients. 108 patients with moderate and severe forms of COVID-19 were divided into two groups (each group 54 patients). One group received ATV/r plus hydroxychloroquine, and the other group received hydroxychloroquine plus LPV/r. Then, both groups were evaluated and compared for clinical symptoms, recovery rates, and complications of treatment regimens. Our findings showed a significant increase in bilirubin in ATV/r-receiving group compared to LPV/r receivers. There was also a significant increase in arrhythmias in the LPV/r group compared to the ATV/r group during treatment. Other findings including length of hospital stay, outcome, and treatment complications were not statistically significant. There is no significant difference between protease inhibitor drugs including ATV/r and LPV/r in the treatment of COVID-19 regarding clinical outcomes. However, some side effects such as hyperbilirubinemia and arrhythmia were significantly different by application of atazanavir or lopinavir.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Outcomes of Patients with COVID-19; a One-Year Survey.

INTRODUCTION: Assessing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) outcomes of patients with COVID-19 and employing effective strategies for their improvement are essential. This study is designed in this regard. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted between January 20, 2020 and January 20, 2021 in the emergency departments of two hospitals in Hamadan and Kermanshah, Iran. Participants were 487 patients with confirmed COVID-19 and cardiac arrest (CA) who had undergone CPR during the study period. Data were collected using the available CPR documentation forms developed based on the Utstein Style and analyses were performed using Chi-square, Fisher's exact, and Mann-Whitney U tests and the logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Participants' mean age was 69.31±14.73 years and most of them were male (61.8%) and suffered from at least one underlying disease (58.1%). The rate of total and in-hospital CA was 9.67% and 9.39%, respectively. The most prevalent first documented rhythm was asystole (67.9%) and the highest responsivity to CPR was for shockable rhythms. The rate of the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) was 9% and the rate of survival to hospital discharge was 2%. The significant predictors of CPR success were age (p = 0.035), epinephrine administration time interval (p = 0.00), CPR duration (p = 0.00), and First documented rhythm (p = 0.009). CONCLUSION: The rate of in-hospital CA among studied COVID-19 cases was 9.39% with 9% ROSC and 2% survival to hospital discharge rates after CPR. Primary CPR success among patients with COVID-19 was poor, particularly among those with asystole and bradycardia. It seems that old age and improper doses of epinephrine can reduce CPR success.

The significant impact of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on in-hospital mortality of elderly patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury: A retrospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the main causes of death and disability among the elderly patient population. This study aimed to assess the predictors of in-hospital mortality of elderly patients with moderate to severe TBI who presented during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHODS: In this retrospective analytical study, all elderly patients with moderate to severe TBI who were referred to our center between March 2nd, 2020 to August 1st, 2020 were investigated and compared against the TBI patients receiving treatment during the same time period within the year 2019. Patients were followed until discharge from the hospital or death. The demographic, clinical, radiological, and laboratory test data were evaluated. Data were analyzed using SPSS-21 software. FINDINGS: In this study, 359 elderly patients were evaluated (n = 162, Post-COVID-19). Fifty-four patients of the cohort had COVID-19 disease with a mortality rate was 33.3%. The patients with COVID-19 were 5.45 times more likely to expire before discharge (P < 0.001) than the TBI patients who were not COVID-19 positive. Other variables such as hypotension (OR, 4.57P < 0.001), hyperglycemia (OR, 2.39, P = 0.002), and use of anticoagulant drugs (OR, 2.41P = 0.001) were also associated with in-hospital death.According to the binary logistic regression analysis Age (OR, 1.72; 95% CI: 1.26-2.18; P = 0.033), Coronavirus infection (OR, 2.21; 95% CI: 1.83-2.92; P = 0.011) and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) (OR, 3.11; 95% CI: 2.12-4.53; P < 0.001) were independent risk factors correlated with increased risk of in-hospital mortality of elderly patients with moderate to severe TBI. CONCLUSION: Our results showed that Coronavirus infection could increase the risk of in-hospital mortality of elderly patients with moderate to severe TBI significantly.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can predispose young to Intracerebral hemorrhage: a retrospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: The respiratory system involvement is the most common presentation of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, other organs including the central nervous system (CNS) could be affected by the virus. Strokes, seizures, change in mental status, and encephalitis have been reported as the neurological manifestation of the disease. We hypothesized that COVID-19 could predispose younger patients to spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). The present study aimed to investigate whether COVID-19 has any relationship with the occurrence of spontaneous ICH in young or not. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated all the patients with spontaneous ICH who were referred to our center between 20 Feb and 1 Sep 2020. The demographic, clinical, radiological, and laboratory test data were evaluated. Patients were divided into two groups. The COVID-19 positive patients and COVID-19 negative ones. All the variables including age, sex, history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), hematoma volume and location, the presence of intraventricular hemorrhage and hydrocephalus on admission, the length of hospital stay, the lab test results and the clinical outcome at last visit or discharge as Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: There were 22 COVID-19 positive patients (20.8%) and 84 COVID-19 negative ones (79.2%). The mean age of the patients in the case group (54.27 ± 4.67) was significantly lower than that in the control group (69.88 ± 4.47) (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, our results showed a significant difference between the two groups based on the presence of chronic arterial hypertension (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences between the two groups based on gender, diabetes mellitus, smoking, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), hematoma volume, need for surgery, the presence of intraventricular hemorrhage and hydrocephalus on admission, White Blood Cell (WBC) count, platelet count, Prothrombin Time (PT), and Partial Thromboplastin Time (PTT) (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that COVID positive patients with ICH are younger and with less predisposing factors than COVID negative subjects with ICH.

Diabetes and COVID-19: A systematic review on the current evidences.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 pneumonia is a newly recognized illness that is spreading rapidly around the world and causes many disability and deaths. Some diseases, for instance diabetes, is continuously suggested as a risk factor which contributes to the severity and mortality of COVID-19. However, to date, there are no comprehensive studies aiming to explain the exact relationship between diabetes and COVID-19. Thus, this study aims to summarize the evidence about diabetes and COVID-19 outbreak through a systematic review and meta-analysis approach. METHOD: A literature review was implemented within databases of Scopus, PubMed, Science direct, and Web of science. Observational reviews, case-report, and case-series studies that assessed the diabetes in COVID-19 patients, were included. Data extraction and assessment were guided by PRISMA checklist. FINDINGS: Some studies suggest that there were no significant differences in symptoms between patients who suffered from both diabetes and COVID-19 and those who only suffered COVID-19. In the subsequent meta-analysis 14.5% of the subjects were diabetic patient. These clients have poor ARDS prognosis, severe symptoms, and the death rate is higher among COVID-19 patients. In addition, it is suggested the diabetic patients will be treated with antibiotics, antivirals, and HCQ. CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that diabetes is a risk factor - and contributes to the severity and mortality of patients with COVID-19. This paper also provides recommendations and guidelines for which could be useful for prevention and treatment of diabetic patients affected by COVID-19.