Cost-effectiveness analysis of COVID-19 variants effects in an age-structured model.

This study analyzes the impact of COVID-19 variants on cost-effectiveness across age groups, considering vaccination efforts and nonpharmaceutical interventions in Republic of Korea. We aim to assess the costs needed to reduce COVID-19 cases and deaths using age-structured model. The proposed age-structured model analyzes COVID-19 transmission dynamics, evaluates vaccination effectiveness, and assesses the impact of the Delta and Omicron variants. The model is fitted using data from the Republic of Korea between February 2021 and November 2022. The cost-effectiveness of interventions, medical costs, and the cost of death for different age groups are evaluated through analysis. The impact of different variants on cases and deaths is also analyzed, with the Omicron variant increasing transmission rates and decreasing case-fatality rates compared to the Delta variant. The cost of interventions and deaths is higher for older age groups during both outbreaks, with the Omicron outbreak resulting in a higher overall cost due to increased medical costs and interventions. This analysis shows that the daily cost per person for both the Delta and Omicron variants falls within a similar range of approximately $10-$35. This highlights the importance of conducting cost-effect analyses when evaluating the impact of COVID-19 variants.

Prediction of respiratory complications by quantifying lung contusion volume using chest computed tomography in patients with chest trauma.

Pulmonary contusion is an important risk factor for respiratory complications in trauma patients. Hence, we aimed to determine the relationship between the ratio of pulmonary contusion volume to the total lung volume and patient outcomes and the predictability of respiratory complications. We retrospectively included 73 patients with a pulmonary contusion on chest computed tomography (CT) from 800 patients with chest trauma admitted to our facility between January 2019 and January 2020. Chest injury severity was expressed as the ratio of pulmonary contusion volume to total lung volume by quantifying pulmonary contusion volume on chest CT. The cut-off value was 80%. Among the 73 patients with pulmonary contusion (77% males, mean age: 45.3 years), 28 patients had pneumonia, and five had acute respiratory distress syndrome. The number of patients in the severe risk group with > 20% of pulmonary contusion volume was 38, among whom 23 had pneumonia. For predicting pneumonia, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves for the ratio of pulmonary contusion volume was 0.85 (95% confidence interval 0.76-0.95, p = 0.008); the optimal threshold was 70.4%. Quantifying pulmonary contusion volume using initial CT enables identifying patients with chest trauma at high risk of delayed respiratory complications.