ABSTRACT
Objective: It is increasingly important to identify risk factors for COVID-19-associated mortality to provide access to early treatment. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between COVID-19 severity and laboratory data and demographic characteristics of hospitalized patients and to identify factors predicting mortality in COVID-19. Materials and Methods: The study is a retrospective and single-center study. Data of 1298 COVID-19 patients confirmed by a positive real-time polymerase chain reaction test for COVID-19 and treated at the hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Study patients were divided into three groups based on the clinical severity of disease: the mild-moderate group (n:954) and the severe (n:310) and critical (n:34) groups. Demographic characteristics, underlying diseases, and laboratory findings were compared between groups. Results: Multivariate logistic and ordinal logistic regression analysis revealed that male gender, old age, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular event, malignancy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic renal failure, chronic hepatitis B, and Alzheimer's disease/dementia/Parkinson's disease (among neurological diseases) were independently associated with and significantly increased the development of severe disease and mortality. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a significant health problem affecting all of humanity. Determining risk factors for COVID-19 severity and mortality are critical for classifying critical cases at the time of initial diagnosis, establishing appropriately specific treatment protocols, and ensuring access to early treatment.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: This study analyzed the late ear complications of radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) and compared the conventional and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (2D-RT and IMRT, respectively). METHODS: At 2-21 years after the end of NPC treatment, 104 ears of 52 patients were evaluated with the otoscopic examination, pure tone audiometry test, tympanometry, and subjective complaints by being blinded to the radiotherapy technique. RESULTS: There were no differences in terms of the pathology of the external, middle or inner ear, air and bone-conduction hearing thresholds, and the air-bone (A-B) gap at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz, and tympanometry types between 2D-RT and IMRT groups (p > 0.05). There were positive correlations between the values of A500 and A1000 thresholds; gap 500, 4000, and mean cochlear RT dose (p < 0.05). There were positive correlations between the values of A500, A1000, and A4000 thresholds; gap 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, and maximum cochlear RT dose (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: IMRT was not found to be superior to 2D-RT to prevent RT-induced ear complications. The solution of the middle ear problems must be the goal of the strategies for complications treatment.
