Changing characteristics of cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: Cancer patients are more sensitive to infections, and, compared to other patients, may have more serious outcomes. Thus, cancer patients are a high-risk group in the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to evaluate how cancer patients are affected by COVID-19 infection;the prevalence, and factors affecting mortality. Methodology: This single-centre, retrospective study included cancer patients under follow-up treatment at our hospital with a laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19. Demographic and clinical data were obtained from electronic medical records. The effects of tumour subtype and patient demographic data on COVID-19 prevalence and mortality were analyzed using univariate and multivariate models. Results: Evaluation was made of 217 cancer patients, comprising 140 (64.5%) males and 77 (35.5%) females with a mean age of 62.05 ± 12.95 years. Mortality was seen in 84 (38.7%) patients. Disease grade, chemotherapy within the last 3 months and CT findings were determined to be related to mortality. In logistic regression analysis, the most important factors affecting survival were determined to be severe lung involvement (p < 0.001) and hematological malignancy. Conclusions: It is clear that cancer patients are at greater risk from COVID-19 infection than individuals without a malignant disease. The results showed that cancer patients with different tumour types had different levels of sensitivity to COVID-19. It is clear that with ongoing viral mutations, the duration of the pandemic is unknown. Therefore, the continuation of cancer screening and cancer treatments should not be interrupted. Copyright © 2022 Korkusuz et al.

Serum presepsin levels among patients with COVID-19

Background: Presepsin provides information about prognosis of various inflammatory diseases and helps guide therapy. The present study was aimed to evaluate presepsin levels in COVID-19 patients and assess its predictive value on severity and mortality of the disease. Materials and Methods: A total of 259 patients were divided into two groups according to severity of the disease. Patients with mild-moderate illness constituted group 0 and those with severe-critical illness constituted group 1. Biochemical parameters including hemogram, coagulation tests, C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin, creatine kinase, troponin, D-dimer, presepsin, and liver and kidney function tests were assessed for each patient. Results: Group 1 patients were older and had a higher length of hospital stay and mortality compared to group 0 patients. Blood levels of urea, creatinine, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), aspartate aminotransferase, ferritin, procalcitonin, CRP, activated partial thromboplastin time, troponin, and presepsin were statistically significantly higher and lymphocyte and albumin levels were significantly lower in group 1 patients than that of group 0 patients. Presepsin had a weak positive correlation with LDH (r = 0.147, P = 0.018) and troponin levels (r = 0.141, P = 0.024), and had a weak negative correlation with albumin level (r = -0.134, 0.031). According to multivariate logistic regression analysis, only lymphocyte count was an independent predictor of hospital mortality. Presepsin with a cutoff value of 42.79 pg/ml predicted severe-critical infection with 64.4% sensitivity and 52.5% specificity. It had a lower diagnostic value for prediction of disease severity compared to procalcitonin and CRP. Conclusion: Presepsin might be used in risk stratification of COVID-19 disease. Further studies are needed to delineate its prognostic value for survival.

The prognostic role of D-dimer in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

INTRODUCTION: In COVID-19 patients, the determination of the relationship between elevated D-dimer level and prognosis and the determination of thrombosis formation in the early stages of the disease are very important. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic role of D-dimer levels based on presentation in patients hospitalized with the diagnosis of COVID-19. METHOD: The study was conducted on patients hospitalized with the diagnosis of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 between March 11 and April 20, 2020. Patients with diseases that could have caused an increase in D-dimer were excluded from the study. RESULTS: The evaluation was made across a total of 1,669 patients, comprising 782 (46.9 %) females and 887 (53.1 %) males. The effects of D-dimer, CRP, ferritin, and troponin on mortality were evaluated with Enter Logistic Regression Analysis, and the model was found to be significant, with an explanatory coefficient of the model at a very good level of 91.3 %. The D-dimer scores were determined to be higher in patients who did not survive. The risk of mortality was seen to be 7.325-fold higher in cases with D-dimer measurement ≥0.5. CONCLUSION: The study results showed that the D-dimer test was an independent risk factor showing mortality in COVID-19 patients (Tab. 6, Ref. 27). Text in PDF www.elis.sk Keywords: D-dimer, SARS-CoV-2, mortality.

The importance of healthcare workers to comply with infection prevention and control instructions during COVID-19 outbreak-a survey study. (Special Issue: COVID-19;experiences and future prospects part II.)

Objective: Taking precations to prevent contamination and developing prevention programs play a key role in the outbreak. For this purpose, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) of healthcare workers (HCWs) and their compliance with hand hygiene were investigated in the current Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) outbreak.