ABSTRACT
Susceptibility to severe illness from COVID-19 is anticipated to be associated with cigarette smoking as it aggravates the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory illness, including infections. This is particularly important with the advent of a new strain of coronaviruses, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that has led to the present pandemic, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Although, the effects of smoking on COVID-19 are less described and controversial, we presume a link between smoking and COVID-19. Smoking has been shown to enhance the expression of the angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2) and transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) key entry genes utilized by SARS-CoV-2 to infect cells and induce a 'cytokine storm', which further increases the severity of COVID-19 clinical course. Nevertheless, the impact of smoking on ACE-2 and TMPRSS2 receptors expression remains paradoxical. Thus, further research is necessary to unravel the association between smoking and COVID-19 and to pursue the development of potential novel therapies that are able to constrain the morbidity and mortality provoked by this infectious disease. Herein we present a brief overview of the current knowledge on the correlation between smoking and the expression of SARS-CoV-2 key entry genes, clinical manifestations, and disease progression.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is a systemic disorder with the lung and the vasculature being the preferred targets. Patients with interstitial lung diseases represent a category at high risk of progression in the case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2 infection, and as such deserve special attention. We first describe the combination of acute exacerbation and pulmonary embolism in an elderly ILD patient after booster anti-COVID-19 mRNA vaccination. Vaccines availability had significantly and safety impacted COVID-19 morbidity and mortality worldwide. Immunization against COVID-19 is indisputable but must not be separated from the awareness of potential adverse effects in fragile patients.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Dynamic X-ray (DXR) provides images of multiple phases of breath with less radiation exposure than CT. The exact images at end-inspiratory or end-expiratory phases can be chosen accurately. PURPOSE: To investigate the correlation of the projected lung area (PLA) by dynamic chest X-ray with pulmonary functions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred sixty-two healthy volunteers who received medical check-ups for health screening were included in this study. All subjects underwent DXR in both posteroanterior (PA) and lateral views and pulmonary function tests on the same day. All the volunteers took several tidal breaths before one forced breath as instructed. The outlines of lungs were contoured manually on the workstation with reference to the motion of diaphragm and the graph of pixel values. The PLAs were calculated automatically, and correlations with pulmonary functions and demographic data were analyzed statistically. RESULTS: The PLAs have correlation with physical characteristics, including height, weight and BMI, and pulmonary functions such as vital capacity (VC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). VC and FEV1 revealed moderate correlation with the PLAs of PA view in forced inspiratory phase (VC: right, r = 0.65; left, r = 0.69. FEV1: right, r = 0.54; left, r = 0.59). Multivariate analysis showed that body mass index (BMI), sex and VC were considered independent correlation factors, respectively. CONCLUSION: PLA showed statistically significant correlation with pulmonary functions. Our results indicate DXR has a possibility to serve as an alternate method for pulmonary function tests in subjects requiring contact inhibition including patients with suspected or confirmed covid-19.