ABSTRACT
Introduction: Increasing amount of data in the literature proves the predictive role of some biomarkers for severity and the outcome of the COVID 19 infection. Aim(s): To make assessment of the relationship between some laboratory parameters and in hospital outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Method(s): Data from 123 hospital patients for a 3-month period were analyzed, 71 men and 52 women, average age 68.1y +/-12.4. They were divided into two groups regarding the outcome - deceased (82, 66.7%) and discharged (41, 33.3%) and compared by demographic, hematological and biochemical indicators. In the analysis of the results the parametric tests were applied in: normal distribution for hypothesis testing: Student's t-test;Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) - LSD, Tukey HSD, Duncan, Scheffe, Bonferon, Student - Newman - Keuls. Non-parametric tests with a different than normal distribution to test hypotheses: chi2 Pearson test;Kruscal-Wallis test;Man Witney (Wilcoxon) W test. Result(s): There were no significant differences in terms of gender and age in the two groups p>0,05). We found significantly higher values of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), p=0.0379, fibrinogen, p= 0.0209 and international normalized ratio (INR), p= 0.0151 in the group of the dead. The values of total protein and albumins in the same group were much lower - p=0.0203, p=0.0018 respectively. There was no significant difference between both groups regarding D-dimer, C-reactive protein, leucocytes, lymphocytes and thrombocytes. Conclusion(s): Deviations found in basic laboratory parameters are useful for assessing the risk of the outcome of COVID -19 infection in hospitalized patients.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: Since its inception in early 2020, COVID-19 has quickly become a pandemic, killing more than six million people worldwide. The aim of this study is to in-vestigate the morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 in one Bulgarian hemodialysis center. Materials and methods: The study is retrospective, conducted for the period of 25th Apr 2020 - 31st Dec 2021. The mean annual number of hemodialysis patients was 184, including patients with end-stage renal disease and acute renal failure. The total number of patients with COVID-19 was 78 (42%), 49of which (63%) were males, the average age was 60 years (+/-12.1 years). Results: There was no significant difference between the mean age of patients divided by sex (p=0.069). A total of 33 people died (42%), 17 of whom (51%) were males. The average age of the deceased patients (64.24 +/-10.846) was higher than that of the survivors (58.44 +/-12.286), and the difference was significant (p=0.034). There was no sig-nificant difference in the mean age of survived and de-ceased males (p=0.74) but for females, the difference was statistically significant - the mean age of survivorswas 55.00 (+/-12.03)and of the deceased patients was 67.6 (+/-8.79) years. Conclusion: Our results confirm data from similar studies aboutthe high incidence and mortality of COVID-19 in hemodialysis patients. We confirma statistically sig-nificant increase in mortality of these patients with increas-ing age. Probably the mass vaccination of patients and staff;the use of antiviral drugs and biological therapy is the way to reduce morbidity and mortality among them.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The pandemic of a new strain of corona virus - SARS-CoV-2, which occurred at the end of 2019, caused the appearance of a new disease (Covid-19) in over 500 million people worldwide, and over 6 million died. This infection is often clinically manifested as lung complications. Bronchial asthma is a chronic pulmonary disease, which was considered to be a serious risk factor for more frequent and more severe infection with this virus. The aim of this study was to define the role of bronchial asthma as a risk factor for frequency and severity of COVID-19 infection. Materials and methods: The study is retrospective, for the period from April 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021, and includes 356 patients with bronchial asthma, 256 of whom (72%) females and 100 (28%) males, middle age 58.5 (+or- 15.8) years. The infected, hospitalized and deceased patients with COVID-19 and bronchial asthma were included. Data is collected from an outpatient practice database in Pleven, Bulgaria, and is statistically processed with Statgraphics 19.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: to analyze the epidemiological and clinical parameters of asthmatic patients with COVID-19 infection. Materials and methods: a retrospective study was performed including data from an outpatient pulmonary practice in Pleven, Bulgaria, for the period 01.04. 2020 - 31.12. 2021. Sixty-five asthmatics were included and divided into two groups, referred to hospital due to COVID-19 infection (A) and outpatients (B), and their epidemiological and clinical data were compared. Results: 65 patients were analyzed, 46 (71%) women and 19 (29%) men. Forty-four patients were confirmed with PCR and/or antigen test, and in 21, the diagnosis was based on clinical and X-ray data. Group A included 18 patients. It was found that patients over 65 years were significantly more in group A (44.4% vs 18.8%, p<0.05). There were significant differences between the groups concerning ischemic heart disease (9%/ 3%, p=0.001), arterial hypertension (10.6%/7.6%, p=0.007), heart failure (3%/0%, p=0.01), diabetes, but not in allergic rhinitis. We did not find a distinction regarding sex, adherence to inhalation therapy and usage of systemic corticosteroids (p>0.05). None of the patients had an exacerbation during the treatment in the hospital and within a month after the hospital discharge. Conclusion: According to the analyses of the study, COVID-19 infection is not a risk factor for asthma exacerbations. The leading causes for the severity of the coronavirus infection in asthmatics are the age and some concomitant diseases.