ABSTRACT
Introduction: COVID-19 is an acute, sometimes severe, respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus SARSCoV-2. Aims and objectives: This study aimed to investigate the severity of COVID-19 based on serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor. Method(s): This cross-sectional study was conducted on 86 patients with COVID-19. They diagnosed using the RTPCR test taken from the throat and nose. The patient's demographic information were extracted from patients' records. A 5-ml venous blood sample was taken from each patient. VEGF was measured with the ELISA method using the Hangzhou East biopharma VEGF ELIZA Kit. Result(s): The mean age of patients was 55.56+/-14.88 years old. Fifty percent were male. The most common clinical symptom in patients was shortness of breath (77.9%). The VEGF and CRP mean serum levels were 2877.07+/-104.77 ng/ml and 46.16+/-24.23 mm/hour, respectively. There was no significant relationship between VEGF levels and COVID-19 severity (P=0.55). The percentage of pulmonary involvement > 50 in the severe group (72.7%) was higher than that of the non-severe group (2.4%) (P=0.001). There was a significant relationship between COVID-19 severity and the levels of LDH, neutrophil/lymph ratio, and CRP. Regarding medications, Remdesivir was used more in the severe group (70.5%) than in the non-severe group (45.2%) (P=0.018). Conclusion(s): Although serum VEGF levels were higher in severe group than non-severe group, but the difference was not statistically significant. Therefore, these inflammatory markers can assist in the initial evaluation of COVID19. Physicians should monitor serum levels of LDH, neutrophil/lymph ratio, and CRP when admitting COVID-19 patients.
ABSTRACT
Background: COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 and can lead to acute respiratory distress. Objective: We aimed to investigate the association between COVID-19 severity and serum apelin17 and inflammatory mediator levels. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on patients with COVID-19. COVID-19 infection was confirmed by the RT-PCR test. The patients' data were extracted from their records. Venous blood samples were obtained from the patients to investigate the serum levels of apelin-17 and inflammatory mediators. Results: Eighty-six COVID-19 patients were studied. The mean age of the participants was 55.56±14.88, and 43 (50 %) were male. Clinical symptoms were dyspnea 77.6 %, fever 52.3 %, cough 48.8 %, gastrointestinal symptoms 15.1 %, and chest pain 7 %. The overall mortality rate was 7 %. No significant relationship was found between serum apelin-17 levels and COVID-19 severity (P= 0.48). However, there was a significant and direct relationship between COVID-19 severity and serum levels of CRP (P= 0.038) and D-dimer (P= 0.029). Conclusion: Serum apelin-17 levels were higher in recovered patients than those who died (4.90 vs. 3.19). Moreover, serum apelin-17 levels were higher in the patients admitted to the general ward than those admitted to the ICU (5.15 vs. 3.98). The difference was not statistically significant. However, there was a significant and direct relationship between serum apelin-17 levels and lymphocyte count (P= 0.022). Moreover, there was a significant and inverse relationship between lymphocyte count and COVID-19 severity (P= 0.004). Therefore, it can be interpreted that COVID-19 severity may decrease with an increase in serum apelin-17 levels. Therefore, to prove this hypothesis, a study with larger sample size is recommended.
ABSTRACT
Background: Olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions can be considered as important symptoms to screen for the mild cases of the COVID-19 disease. However, there are limited studies on the specificity of olfactory and gustatory changes in patients with COVID-19, and it is unclear to what extent the changes may be unique to the disease. This study aimed to evaluate the duration and outcome of olfactory and gustatory disorders in patients with COVID-19. Methods: The study population was patients with COVID-19 at Afzalipour Hospital whose disease was confirmed by nasopharyngeal polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. 20 patients with olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions were studied. Data were collected using two forms, which were completed at the time of diagnosis and two weeks after the onset of the disease. Results: In 20% of the patients, olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions were among the early symptoms. In 85% of the cases, these dysfunctions were permanent during the disease. 30% of the cases had a chronic underlying disease such as sinusitis, nasal polyps, and allergy. In follow-up, 13 patients (60%) reported that their olfactory dysfunctions had completely improved. Conclusion: The patients whose only symptom is the sudden olfactory or gustatory dysfunction or the dysfunctions are among their early symptoms, should be screened for COVID-19. Most of the patients will recover over the time. Copyright: 2021 The Author(s);Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Citation: Hosseininasab A, Farokhnia M, Arabi Mianroodi A.A, Iranmanesh E, Mohammadi S, Soltani A, Ilaghi M, Shahdforush S, Hashemi A.R. Follow-up and Outcome of Olfactory and Gustatory Dysfunctions in Patients with COVID-19. Journal of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, 2021;28 (2): 167-172.