Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pneumonia Scoring System Comparison and Risk Factors.

OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus disease 2019 is a disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, a novel type of coronavi- rus, which causes pneumonia in some hosts. No specific scoring method exists for mortality evaluation in novel coronavirus pneumonia. The aim of this study was to investigate factors affecting coronavirus disease 2019 mortality and comparison of pneumonia scoring sys- tems, pneumonia severity index, CURB-65, and MuLBSTA. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this single-center clinical study, 151 patients who had been diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 infection and pneumonia between March 11 and May 31, 2020, were evaluated retrospectively. Correlation between patients' symptoms, comorbidities, drugs in use, radiological findings, and mortality was investigated. Parameters were also evaluated regarding their contribution to additional treatment requirements and days of fever response. RESULTS: A correlation between mortality and higher scores of pneumonia severity index, CURB-65, and MuLBSTA was found. When parameters were investigated separately, elevated glucose and urea levels, presence of diabetes, renal failure, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cerebrovascular events and known malignancies, lymphocyte count, smoking history, radiological find- ings, and age correlated with mortality. In addition to these parameters, elevated calcium, potassium, brain natriuretic peptide, troponin, d-dimer, C-reactive protein, HC03, and lactate dehydrogenase levels were found significant regarding mortality. These parameters were not found statistically relevant regarding additional treatment requirement, fever response day, and total treatment duration. CONCLUSION: A modified version of present pneumonia scoring systems will be required to rigorously evaluate the severity of a patient's condition. A new scoring system that uses components of the present ones may prove useful and with further studies, a similar follow-up algorithm may be created.

Is there a relationship between sleep apnoea and microalbuminuria?

INTRODUCTION: Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a cause of hypoxia, and the correlation between hypoxia and microvascular complications is well known. Microalbuminuria (MAU) is a marker for endovascular dysfunction and an indicator of cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality in the general population. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between microvascular damage and the metabolic complications of OSA based on the presence of MAU. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) and microalbumin level were examined in patients with an apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) greater than 5/h (study group) and in patients with an AHI less than 5/h (control group). The exclusion criteria were other possible causes of MAU (hypertension, nephropathy, coronary artery disease, and severe thyroid dysfunction). RESULTS: Of 103 patients enrolled, 80 formed the group with OSA and 23 served as controls. According to the AHI values, the patients were divided into four groups as normal, mild, moderate and severe. There was no significant difference between the four groups in terms of the microalbumin level and urinary albumin/creatinine ratio. CONCLUSION: In this study, no significant relationship was found between MAU and sleep apnoea.

Does CPAP treatment affect the voice?

BACKGROUND/AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate alterations in voice parameters among patients using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with an indication for CPAP treatment without any voice problems and with normal laryngeal findings were included and voice parameters were evaluated before and 1 and 6 months after CPAP. Videolaryngostroboscopic findings, a self-rated scale (Voice Handicap Index-10, VHI-10), perceptual voice quality assessment (GRBAS: grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, strain), and acoustic parameters were compared. RESULTS: Data from 70 subjects (48 men and 22 women) with a mean age of 44.2 ± 6.0 years were evaluated. When compared with the pre-CPAP treatment period, there was a significant increase in the VHI-10 score after 1 month of treatment and in VHI- 10 and total GRBAS scores, jitter percent (P = 0.01), shimmer percent, noise-to-harmonic ratio, and voice turbulence index after 6 months of treatment. Vague negative effects on voice parameters after the first month of CPAP treatment became more evident after 6 months. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated nonsevere alterations in the voice quality of patients under CPAP treatment. Given that CPAP is a long-term treatment it is important to keep these alterations in mind.