ABSTRACT
Objectives: Since its first appearance in Wuhan December 2019, SARS-CoV2 virus received great attention due to its severe symptoms and high spread causing COVID-19 disease which spread all over the world like a pandemic. The causative virus is capable of human-to-human transmission via droplet and direct contact suggesting that upper respiratory tract is the main site to virus manifestations. There is a great diversity in its clinical picture, although the severe respiratory and neurological symptoms are commonly present;however, other symptoms are present. Although otological manifestations are reported in many COVID-19 patients even in asymptomatic cases, they did not receive much attention compared with other critical manifestations. In this article, we paid our attention specifically to the otological manifestations of COVID-19 and their relevance either to the virus infection, treatment, or vaccination through literature review. Conclusion(s): COVID-19 disease has a deleterious effect on the inner ear. This effect is not only due to SARS-Cov-2 infection, but it could be also due to the ototoxic drugs used for treatment. The COVID-19 vaccinations are found to be implicated in the otological symptoms in some cases.Copyright © 2022, The Author(s).
ABSTRACT
Objective: To explore the clinical safety of lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) by mining the risk signals of adverse events (AEs) related to LPV/r for the safe application of the drug in the treatment of novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19). Method(s): The risk signals related to LPV/r in AE reports of US FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) from the first quarter of 2010 to the third quarter of 2019 were mined by reporting odds ratio (ROR). An AE with reports more than 3 and 95% confidence interval (CI) lower limit of ROR greater than 1 was defined as a positive signal. AEs were counted and classified using the preferred system organ class (SOC) and preferred term (PT) of Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA). The PTs of top 50 adverse event reports and signal strength were selected and analyzed. Result(s): From the first quarter of 2010 to the third quarter of 2019, a total of 13 335 AE reports with LPV/r as the primary suspicious drug were reported in the FAERS database. Four hundred and fifty-five AE risk signals with reports more than 3 and the 95%CI lower limit of ROR greater than 1 were detected, involving 7 718 AE reports. The top 2 system organs involved in AE reports were "injury, poisoning and procedural complications" [13.6% (1 051/7 718)] and "pregnancy, puerperium and perinatal conditions" [11.7% (899/7 718)]. However, 998 (95.0%) of 1051 AE reports involved in "injury, poisoning and procedural complications" were related to drug exposure during pregnancy. The system organ with the highest signals was "congenital, familial and genetic disorders" [16.3% (74/455)]. In addition, 144 AEs caused by drug interactions were detected, which ranked the 7th in the AE reports. Conclusion(s): The risk signals of fetal, neonatal and infant abnormalities related to LPV/r during pregnancy were detected, suggesting that attention should be paid to the risk of using LPV/r in pregnant women and infants. The interaction between LPV/r and other drugs was also worthy of attention.Copyright © 2020 by the Chinese Medical Association.