ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Abdominal solid organ transplant (SOT) programs have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, which was officially declared as such on March 11, 2020. Over two years, the tightening and softening of limitations in response to the "waves" of infection and COVID-19 fluctuations have provided distinct issues for waitlisted patients, transplant recipients, and transplant organizations. METHOD: We searched Scopus using the terms "transplant" and "transplantation," and organ-related phrases like "intestin*," "liver," "kidney," "hepatic," "renal," and "pancrea*," as well as COVID-19 terms such as "COVID-19," "coronavirus," and "SARS-CoV-2." We included articles, reviews, conference papers, letters, notes, editorials, brief surveys, book chapters, and errata and studied nations, institutions, authors, journals, keywords, and articles. VOSviewer 1.6.18 and Excel were used to create tables and figures. RESULTS: We included 1,251 of 1,256 studies. Among them, 289 (23.1%), 489 (39.1%), and 473 (37.8%) papers were published in 2020, 2021, and 2022, with mean (SD) citations of 30.3 (53.3), 14.3 (26.8), and 4.79 (6.38), respectively. Compared to other abdominal organs, the field of kidney transplants had the highest number of articles describing the impact of COVID-19. The United States contributed the most articles, and the American Journal of Transplantation published the most articles. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first bibliometric investigation of the impact of COVID-19 on SOT. This report provides an overview of the research conducted on SOT and COVID-19. There is potential for this bibliometric analysis to serve as a beneficial and practical resource for ongoing and future research.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Organ Transplantation , Humans , United States , COVID-19/epidemiology , SARS-CoV-2 , Pandemics , Organ Transplantation/adverse effects , BibliometricsABSTRACT
AIM: Pneumothorax (PNX), pneumomediastinum (PMD) and subcutaneous emphysema (SCE) are COVID-19 complications related to positive-pressure ventilation. We analyzed the pathophysiology of these complications without ventilation. PATIENTS & METHODS: Out of 1845 admitted COVID-19 patients, we retrospectively collected data for 15 patients, from a tertiary medical center, from 1 October 2020 to 31 March 2021. RESULTS: Five patients suffered from spontaneous PNX, 8/15 developed PMD and 8/15 developed SCE. The mean BMI was 29.7, as most patients were obese or overweight. Most patients had lymphocytopenia and increased C-reactive protein, ferritin and lactate dehydrogenase levels. Eleven patients succumbed to the disease. CONCLUSION: Risk factors of spontaneous PNX, PMD and SCE in COVID-19 patients need further investigations by conducting more comprehensive case-control studies.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: This study aims to determine the incidence and outcome of COVID-19 patients who required positive pressure ventilation (PPV) and subsequently developed pulmonary barotrauma (PBT). Also, to investigate the risk factors and predictors of these complications to better understand the disease pathogenesis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective analysis enrolled all adult COVID-19 patients admitted through the period from October 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020. All patients who received any form of PPV were included. Patients were then divided into two groups based on PBT development, including subcutaneous emphysema, pneumothorax, and pneumomediastinum. Medical records of all patients were reviewed. Patients' demographics, laboratory data on admission, respiratory support modes, surgical interventions, and outcomes were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: In the specified period, 1095 patients were hospitalized due to COVID-19 illness. A total of 239 (21.8%) of all admitted patients received PPV. PBT accounted for 21.3% (51/239) of the study cohort. While both groups were equally exposed to the same modes of PPV, receiving invasive ventilation significantly correlated with decreased PBT odds (OR = 0.891; 95% CI, 0.803-0.988; p=0.029). PBT patients were significantly younger (p<0.001). Diabetes mellitus was found to have a protective effect on developing PBT (OR = 0.867; 95% CI, 0.782-0.962), while PO2/FIO2 ratio was inversely associated with higher odds of developing PBT in both univariate and multivariate analyses (p=0.03 and p=0.019, respectively). CONCLUSION: COVID-19-infected patients are at a higher risk of developing PBT. Invasive positive pressure ventilation was associated with less PBT compared to noninvasive ventilation and delaying intubation does not seem to reduce the risk of pulmonary barotrauma.