ABSTRACT
Spontaneous pneumomediastinum, pneumothorax, pneumoperitoneum, and soft tissue emphysema have been recently described in several sources as possible complications in patients with severe COVID-19 and lung damage. This clinical case is dedicated to demonstrarte the development of these lesions in 3 male patients with comorbid conditions. The putative pathophysiological mechanism of these complications is air leakage due to extensive diffuse alveolar damage followed by rupture of the alveoli. All presented patients had a favorable outcome of the disease without lethal cases, their laboratory data and clinical dynamics were described. It should be noted that such conditions are not rare complications of COVID-19, and are observed mainly in male patients with severe form of the disease and the presence of comorbid conditions. Such complications are associated with long hospitalization and a severe prognosis. In some cases, with a mild course of the disease and positive dynamics in a decrease of the percentage of pulmonary lesions, the outcome is favorable, not requiring additional invasive interventions.Copyright © 2022 Medical Visualization. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Under the influence of COVID-19, it is recommended to ventilate to reduce the risk of infection in the room. In an air-conditioned room, window open can increased the ventilation rate that caused by indoor and outdoor temperature difference. However, there is a concern that opening window in the air-conditioned room will increase the heating and cooling load due to air leakage. In addition, it is difficult to maintain the appropriate ventilation rate because the outdoor air temperature changes time to time. To solve this problem, we have developed an automatic window opening system to control the natural ventilation rate. In this study, actual measurements were conducted to understand the operating performance of the system, and its effect on the indoor thermal environment. As a result, it was confirmed that the ventilation rate could be controlled by this system. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Face masks are used worldwide to reduce COVID-19 transmission in indoor environments. Differently from face respirators, there are no standards methods for measuring the fraction of air leaking at the face seal of loose-fitting masks such as medical and community masks. This study applies a recently developed method to quantify air leakage at the face seal to 14 medical and community mask models with the aim to understand the role of mask design and filter properties in air leakage. An instrumented head-form equipped with sensors for measuring volumetric airflow and differential pressure was used to simulate the air exhalation from the mouth of a person wearing a face mask. Results showed that the fraction of leaking air at the face seal is not negligible and can range from 10% to 95% according to mask model. The higher the exhaled airflow rate and the lower the amount of leaking fraction. A strong correlation was found between leaking fraction and filter breathability, indicating that a better breathability can lower air leakage. Highly breathable filtering materials should be employed in the production of medical and community face masks to maximize user comfort and minimize the fraction of exhaled air leaking unfiltered at the face seal. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Airborne diseases are a current concern. Infections can spread through the air even when a disease may not be characterized as "airborne" in medical terms. Some installed HVAC systems can spread infectious agents to those who are not currently infected. Cross contamination through leakage in energy recovery ventilation (ERV) devices can provide a pathway for infection. Energy recovery devices are currently required in many new buildings codes and standards. They are often installed in retrofit projects in older buildings in order to save energy. The risk from cross-contamination can be estimated using the Wells-Riley infection model. Energy recovery ventilation device applications can be designed, specified, and installed to effectively eliminate the risk of cross contamination in new systems using current technology so this is an avoidable risk.. A framework for evaluating currently installed ERV systems is providedfor facilities managers and HVAC systems operators to identify and minimize cross contamination infection risk.
ABSTRACT
Objective. The purpose of the study — evaluation of treatment results of patients with c COVID-19 pneumonia complications. Materials and methods. The experience of endoscopic treatment 6 patients with COVID-19 lung complications (5 men and 1 wom-en with age 33—67 years (mean 45.33±13.03 years)). The disease was complicated by the lung destruction with pleural empy-ema and bronchopleural fistula. Endoscopy bronchial valve was used in the treatment of these patients. The mean average duration of pleural drainage insertion before bronchial valve placement was 8±1.46 days (3—12 days). Results. There were no any difficulties with bronchial valve placement. The valves were placed in the intermediate bronchus in three patients, the lower lobe bronchus on the left in two, in the upper lobe bronchus on the left in one patient. In 1 patient, the air leak was stopped during the first day after the intervention, and in 1 patient on the third day. In 4 cases, the leak persist-ed for three days, which required an endoscopic examination with additional bronchial valve insertion in the upper lobe bronchus (on the right — 1 and on the left — 2) or their removal (1 patient) with the installation of larger blockers with a positive re-sult. One patient, 2 days after additional blocking of the upper lobe bronchus of the left lung, underwent replacement of blockers with large ones with a good clinical effect. One patient had multiple procedures for installing and replacing blockers. In all cas-es, it was possible to eliminate air leakage, achieve straightening of the lung tissue and remove drainage from the pleural cavity. Conclusion. Endoscopic bronchial valve placement is effective method of air leakage elimination. It allows improving the patient condition and achieving recovery with COVID-19 pneumonia complication. It’s necessary to take the need for additional bronchial valve placement due to the multilobarity of the lesion and fissure integrity in other lung segments and lobes. © 2022, Media Sphera Publishing Group. All rights reserved.