Résumé
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).
Résumé
BACKGROUND AND AIM: This study aimed to investigate the association of the chest computed tomography severity score (CT-SS) with mortality in patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia. METHODS: In this single-center retrospective observational study, we reviewed the radiological and medical records of 45 patients with confirmed COVID-19, requiring ICU admission during a 4 month period. The chest CT-SS was used to evaluate the severity of lung involvement. RESULTS: Forty-five patients who admitted to the ICU with COVID-19 and had undergone chest CT scans on admission were enrolled. There wasn't a significant difference in total CT-SS neither between patients who died and those who survived [median (interquartile range) 22 (11-30) vs 16 (9-18), p=0.20] nor between patients who underwent invasive mechanical ventilation and those who did not [median (interquartile range) 22 (12-30) vs 15 (8-17), p=0.17]. The median of CT-SS was 17 (2-39) (n=23 vs n=22). The area under the curve for estimation of mortality according to CT-SS was 0.611 at a 95% CI of 0.434-0.788 (p=0.20). CONCLUSIONS: The total CT-SS, obtained from the chest CT on admission to the ICU, was not associated with an increased risk of mortality in patients admitted to ICU with COVID-19 pneumonia.