ABSTRACT
Background: The pattern of bacterial infection in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients differ worldwide. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the patterns of bacterial infections and the antibiotic resistance profile by VITEK 2 (bioMerieux, France) in the culture of blood samples from hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) positive cases meeting clinical brain death criteria;moreover, it was attempted to as-sess the uncommon manifestations of the infection in this study. Materials and Methods: This retrospective observational study was conducted on all brain-dead patients who were referred to the emergency department of hospitals in Mashhad, Iran, from Fe-bruary to October 2020. The demographic characteristics, clinical information, and laboratory data were collected and recorded in a researcher-made checklist. Results: In general, 70 patients were entered in this study. The PCR test result was positive for COVID-19 in 54% of the patients, and syncope was reported in 16.1% of the cases (n=10). Further-more, the majority of the patients (52.9%) showed Central Nervous System (CNS) hemorrhagic manifestations. A comparison was made between the patients with positive and negative PCR test result in terms of syncope;accordingly, there was a significant difference between them in this re-gard (χ2=4.5;P=0.03). The CNS hemorrhagic manifestations were significantly higher in patients with positive PCR compared to those with negative PCR (χ2=4.57, P=0.03). Moreover, the grand glass opacity and pleural effusion were the most common findings of the chest computed tomogra-phy in brain-dead patients with COVID-19. Conclusion: Due to the high prevalence of COVID-19 among brain-dead patients, it seems that syncope attack should be regarded as one of the possible symptoms of COVID-19. Moreover, syn-cope as a result of COVID-19 may itself cause traumatic events. It is worth mentioning that CNS hemorrhagic manifestations have been reported in more than half of the patients with brain death.
ABSTRACT
Background: Transplant recipients are at high risk for severe Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Transplant recipients are immune-compromised individuals at high risk for severe infection. This study aimed to compare the presentations and outcomes of liver and kidney transplant recipients who were infected with COVID-19 in the Iranian population. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Imam Reza and Montaserieh Hospitals affiliated with Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran, between 2020 and 2021. In general, 52 patients were selected and divided into two groups of the kidney (n=28) and liver (n=24) transplantation. Two groups were compared in terms of demographic characteristics and clinical findings. Results: Of the 52 patients, severe COVID-19 infection was reported in 61% of the patients. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of symptoms, except for cough (chi(2)=8.09;P=0.004), clinical condition, and laboratory symptoms, except for creatinine (Z=14;P<0.005), alkaline phosphatase (Z=4.55;P=0.03), total bilirubin (Z=8.93;P=0.03), and partial thromboplastin time (Z=5.97;P=0.01). There was no relationship between the outcome and the use of immunosuppressive medications (P>0.05). All patients with kidney transplantation survived, while two cases in the liver transplantation group failed to survive (chi(2)=2.42;P=0.11). Conclusion: The mortality rate was higher in the liver transplant recipients, compared to the patients who underwent kidney transplantation.