COVID-19 Care Clinic in a Medical Center: Lessons Learned.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this report is to describe the elements of a Covid-19 Care Clinic (CCC), patient demographics, and outcomes. METHODS: Descriptive statistics were used to describe demographics, clinical characteristics, and outcomes. This report is based on 4934 unique patients seen in the CCC who provided research authorization within a 10-month period of time (April 1, 2020-January 31, 2021). The CCC infection control processes consisted of a rooming process that mitigated SARS-COV-2 transmission, preparing examination rooms, using PPE by staff, in room lab drawing, and escorting services to minimize the time in clinic. RESULTS: Of the 4934 unique patients seen (age range newborn-102 years), 76.8% were tested for COVID-19. Of those tested, 11.8% were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Ninety-two percent of the patients with the reason for the visit documented had COVID-19 type symptoms. Cough, shortness of breath, and chest pain were the most common presenting symptom in those with COVID-19. At the time of the visit in the CCC, 5.8% of the patients were actively contagious. Thirty days after being seen in the CCC, 9.1% of the patients were seen in the emergency department (ED) and 0.2% died. During the 10-month period there were no known occupationally related COVID-19 infections. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 Care Clinic provided face-to-face access for all ages with COVID-19 type symptoms. A minority of patients had COVID-19 who were seen in the clinic. The clinic provided an additional venue of care outside of the ED. The infectious control measures employed were highly effective in protecting the staff. Lessons learned allow for decentralization of COVID-19 symptom care to the primary care practices employing the infection control measures.

Paraneoplastic Phenomena in a Patient With Locally Destructive and Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for approximately 80% of all primary renal neoplasms in United States causing approximately 65 000 new cases of RCC and 14 000 deaths each year. Symptoms of RCC typically include weight loss and night sweats but may also feature paraneoplastic phenomena in advanced stages as well as flank pain, gross hematuria, scrotal varicocele, inferior vena cava pathology, and a palpable abdominal mass. In this article, we present the course of a patient with advanced RCC, from initial presentation through workup and to eventual diagnosis. The case features late-onset symptoms, extensive paraneoplastic phenomena, and significant physical examination findings. We also review the literature available on RCC and critically analyze inefficiencies of the workup retrospectively.