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Introduction: After COVID-19 infection, symptoms last for weeks or months. In this study, it was aimed to examine the relationship between functional status and fatigue and the associated factors in patients with COVID-19. Method(s): Patients with COVID-19 infection who applied to 13 centers were included into the study according to the inclusion criteria. Age, gender, height, body weight, body mass index (BMI), marital status, smoking status and amount, presence, duration of chronic disease, Charlson comorbidity index, regular exercise habit, time of diagnosis with COVID-19, presence of hospitalization,length of hospital stay, intubation status, home oxygen therapy need, participation in PR program, presence of dyspnea, cough, sputum, mMRC score, post-COVID functional status scale, fatigue severity scale, EQ-5D-5L Questionnaire scores were recorded. Result(s): Of the 1095 patients, 603 (55%) were male and 492 (45%) were female. Their mean age was 50+/-14 years. The most common chronic lung disease was COPD (11%), while 266 patients (29%) had non-pulmonary systemic disease. The median time of COVID-19 diagonosis was 5 months ago with 47% hospitalization rate. The median value of post-COVID functional status scale was 1 (0:4), and fatigue severity scale score was 4.4 (1:7). There was a significant correlation between post-COVID functional status and fatigue severity scale (r=0.43, p <0.01). Conclusion(s): Functional status and fatigue were found to be related primarily to quality of life and then patients' age, BMI, presence of chronic and systemic lung disease, regular exercise habits before COVID-19, hospitalization and its duration, home oxygen therapy and symptoms.
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OBJECTIVE: There have been doubts that SARS-CoV-2 has been circulating before the first case was announced. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibility of COVID-19 in some cases diagnosed to be viral respiratory tract infection in the pre-pandemic period in our center. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients who were admitted to our hospital's pulmonary diseases, infectious diseases, and intensive care clinics with the diagnosis of viral respiratory system infection within a 6-month period between October 2019 and March 12, 2020, were screened. Around 248 archived respiratory samples from these patients were analyzed for SARS-CoV-2 ribonucleic acid by real-time-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The clinical, laboratory, and radiological data of the patients were evaluated. RESULT(S): The mean age of the study group was 47.5 (18-89 years);103 (41.5%) were female and 145 (58.4%) were male. The most common presenting symptoms were cough in 51.6% (n = 128), fever in 42.7% (n = 106), and sputum in 27.0% (n = 67). Sixty-nine percent (n = 172) of the patients were pre-diagnosed to have upper respiratory tract infection and 22.0% (n = 55) had pneumonia, one-third of the patients (n = 84, 33.8%) were followed in the service. Respiratory viruses other than SARS-CoV-2 were detected in 123 (49.6%) patients. Influenza virus (31.9%), rhinovirus (10.5%), and human metapneumovirus (6.5%) were the most common pathogens, while none of the samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Findings that could be significant for COVID-19 pneumonia were detected in the thorax computed tomography of 7 cases. CONCLUSION(S): The negative SARS-CoV-2 real-time-quantitative polymerase chain reaction results in the respiratory samples of the cases followed up in our hospital for viral pneumonia during the pre-pandemic period support that there was no COVID-19 among our cases during the period in question. However, if clinical suspicion arises, both SARS and non-SARS respiratory viral pathogens should be considered for differential diagnosis.Copyright © Author(s).
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BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate pregnancy frequency and evaluate the factors affecting live births in hemodialysis (HD) patients. METHODS: Female HD patients whose pregnancy was retrospectively reported between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2019. The duration of HD, primary disease, and the information on whether the pregnancy resulted in abortion, stillbirth, or live birth, whether the HD duration was prolonged after diagnosing the pregnancy and whether it accompanied preeclampsia were recorded. RESULTS: In this study, we reached 9038 HD female patients' data in the study. A total of 235 pregnancies were detected in 145 patients. The mean age was 35.42 (35 ± 7.4) years. The mean age at first gestation was 30.8 ± 6.5 years. The average birth week was 32 (28 -36) weeks. A total of 53.8% (no = 78) of the patients had live birth, 51.7% (no = 70) had at least one abortion in the first 20 weeks, and 13.1% (no = 19) had at least one stillbirth after 20 weeks. The rate of patients' increased numbers of dialysis sessions during pregnancy was 71.7%. The abortion rate was 22.4% in those with increased HD sessions, whereas 79.3% in those not increased HD sessions (p < 0.001). Live birth frequency was 67.2% in the increased HD sessions group and 3.4% in those who did not differ in HD sessions (p < 0.001). DISCUSSION: For the first time, we reported pregnancy outcomes in HD female patients, covering all regions of Turkey. It has been observed that;increasing the number of HD sessions in dialysis patients will decrease fetal and maternal complications and increase live birth rates.
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Introduction: COVID-19 can cause acute respiratory failure, metabolic acidosis, coagulopathy, septic shock, and death in older adults. The timely identification of at-risk patients will facilitate early intensive care intervention. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the prognostic factors of COVID-19 in geriatric patients, a group shown to have higher mortality risk. Materials and Methods: A total of 61 patients over 65 years of age with presumed COVID-19 were included in the study. Patients' demographic characteristics, chest computed tomography findings at admission, biomarkers such as neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), hemoglobin (g/dL), platelet count (109/L), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (U/L), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (U/L), total bilirubin (mg/dL), direct bilirubin (mg/dL), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (U/L), creatine kinase (CK) (U/L), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) (mg/dL), creatinine (mg/dL), albumin (mg/dL), D-dimer (ng/mL), ferritin (ng/mL), troponin (ng/mL), C-reactive protein (CRP) (mg/L), and procalcitonin (PCT) (ng/mL), complications during follow-up, and treatments received were recorded retrospectively from patient files and electronic records. Results: Mean age was 71.13 +/- 7.68 years, and 32 (52.5%) of the patients were males. During hospitalization, 18 patients (29.5%) were admitted to the intensive care unit and 10 (16.4%) died. Non-surviving patients were significantly older. Mean admitting NLR, LDH, CK, BUN, creatinine, troponin, D-dimer, CRP, and procalcitonin values were higher and mean albumin level was lower among the non-surviving patients. A Cox regression model based on variables associated with significantly prolonged hospital length of stay showed that highest NLR during follow-up was an independent risk factor for mortality and increased the risk of death by 10.67 times (95% Confidence Interval: 1.183-96.309) (p= 0.035). Conclusion: Highest NLR was found to be an independent risk factor for mortality and was associated with a 10-fold higher risk of death. Close monitoring and comprehensive treatment are required to reduce mortality in these patients.
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Aim: The novel coronavirus causes acute severe respiratory syndrome (SARS COV 2), and the disease is named COVID-19. The virus spreads easily, and CO-VID-19 may be asymptomatic or cause severe pneumonia and ARDS. Hemodialysis patients are affected by COVID-19 because of the immunosuppression caused by uremia, comorbid diseases and the risk of cross-contamination during dialysis. In this study, we aimed to examine the clinical features and outcomes of 55 hemodialysis patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Material and Methods: Fifty-five hemodialysis patients who met the COVID-19 probable case definition were included in the study. Clinical and laboratory features were recorded from patient files and electronic data retrospectively. Results: The study included 55 patients, the average age was 59.6 ± 13.2 years, 49% (n = 27) were female. Hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus, coronary heart diseases were the most common comorbid diseases. Comparing survivors and non-survivors, it was seen that the non-survivors were older (p=0.010). Logistic regression analyses revealed that age, SO2, lactate, WBC, neutrophil count, CRP, LDH, CK, ALT, AST, albumin, total protein, ferritin and D-Dimer were associated with the risk of mortality Discussion: Myalgia, cough, and shortness of breath are the most common symptoms of COVID-19 infection in HD patients, with no apparent fever. Age, SO2, WBC count, neutrophil count, CRP, LDH, CK, ALT, AST, albumin, total protein, ferritin and D-Dimer were found to be associated with mortality. Close monitoring of these parameters during the follow-up and treatment of patients may provide additional benefits in terms of survival.