Covid

OBJECTIVE: Obesity has been found to be a risk factor for hospitalization with COVID-19. We were interested in understanding whether patients hospitalized with COVID-19 differed in BMI at older versus younger ages, and if trends were independent of diabetes and hypertension. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of patients hospitalized with moderate to severe COVID-19 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital from March 19th , 2020 until April 4th , 2020. We compared patients hospitalized with COVID-19 above and below the age of 50, and to those hospitalized without COVID-19...

OBJECTIVE: To explore the association between obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and severe COVID-19 on admission. METHODS: In the present study, a total of 23,593 patient samples were evaluated by a laboratory from the Mexican Institute of Epidemiological Diagnosis and Reference (InDRE, for its acronym in Spanish). Of these: 18,443 were negative for COVID-19, 3,844 were positive for COVID-19, and 1,306 were positive for other respiratory viruses. Severe types of respiratory disease were defined by the presence of pneumonia and other organ failure that requires intensive care...

BACKGROUND:  Relaxation of laws and regulations around privacy and billing during the COVID-19 pandemic provide expanded opportunities to use telehealth to provide patient care at a distance. Many health systems have transitioned to providing outpatient care via telehealth; however, there is an opportunity to utilize telehealth for inpatients to promote physical distancing. OBJECTIVE:  This article evaluates the use of a rapidly implemented, secure inpatient telehealth program...

The present outbreak caused by SARS-CoV-2, an influenza virus with neurotropic potential, presents with neurological manifestations in a large proportion of the affected individuals. Disorders of the central and peripheral nervous system are all present, while stroke, ataxia, seizures, and depressed level of consciousness are more common in severely affected patients. People with these severe complications are most likely elderly with medical comorbidities, especially hypertension and other vascular risk factors...

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has led to major changes in hospital systems across the world. In an effort to reduce viral transmission, conserve resources, and in accordance with institutional and state mandates, all elective procedures and surgeries were postponed during the initial outbreak. Guidelines for case selection are limited and management for pediatric catheterization laboratories during this crisis is unprecedented. OBJECTIVES: To report the protocols and case selection of a high-volume pediatric cardiac catheterization laboratory in the epicenter of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Interest in corticosteroid therapy in COVID-19 has been rekindled after the results from Randomized Evaluation of COVid-19 thERapY (RECOVERY) Trial. However, the World health Organization has not recommended corticosteroid in the treatment of COVID-19. We sought to conduct a systematic review on the role of corticosteroid in the management of patients of COVID-19. METHODS: A systematic electronic search of PubMed, Cochrane and MedRxiv database using specific keywords was made up till June 17, 2020...

BACKGROUND: Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has been promoted as a potential treatment for COVID-19 but there are safety concerns. OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of HCQ treatment on QT interval METHODS: We retrospectively studied the electrocardiograms of 819 patients treated with HCQ for rheumatologic diseases from 2000 to 2020. The primary outcome was corrected QT (QTc) interval, by Bazett formula, during HCQ therapy. RESULTS: The patients were 64...

The novel coronavirus disease, affecting ~9 million people in the past five months and causing >460,000 deaths worldwide, is completely new to mankind. More than 2,000 research projects registered at ClinTrials.gov are aiming at finding effective preventive or curative treatments for rapid transfer to clinical practice.

BACKGROUND: Quarantine and stay-at-home orders are strategies that many countries used during the acute pandemic period of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to prevent disease dissemination, health system overload, and mortality. However, there are concerns that patients did not seek necessary health care due to these mandates. PURPOSE: To evaluate the differences in the clinical presentation of acute appendicitis and CT findings related to these cases between the COVID-19 acute pandemic period and nonpandemic period...

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic presents an unprecedented threat to global public health. Herein, we utilized a combination of targeted and untargeted tandem mass spectrometry to analyze the plasma lipidome and metabolome in mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19 patients and healthy controls. A panel of 10 plasma metabolites effectively distinguished COVID-19 patients from healthy controls (AUC = 0.975). Plasma lipidome of COVID-19 resembled that of monosialodihexosyl ganglioside (GM3)-enriched exosomes, with enhanced levels of sphingomyelins (SMs) and GM3s, and reduced diacylglycerols (DAGs)...

The development, validation, and appropriate application of serological assays to detect antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 are essential to determining seroprevalence of this virus in the United States and globally and in guiding government leadership and the private sector on back-to-work policies. An interagency working group of the US Department of Health and Human Services convened a virtual workshop to identify knowledge gaps and key outstanding scientific issues and to develop strategies to fill them. Key outcomes of the workshop included recommendations for (1) advancing serology assays as a tool to better understand SARS-CoV-2 infection and (2) conducting crucial serology field studies to advance an understanding of immunity to SARS-CoV-2, leading to protection and duration of protection, including the correlation between serological test results and risk of reinfection...

The elevated circulating levels of cytokines associated with a variety of infectious and immune-mediated conditions are frequently termed a cytokine storm. Here, we explain the protective functions of cytokines in "ideal" responses; the multi-factorial origins that can drive these responses to become pathological; and how this ultimately leads to vascular damage, immunopathology, and worsening clinical outcomes.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an unprecedented worldwide health problem that requires concerted and global approaches to stop the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Although SARS-CoV-2 primarily targets lung epithelium cells, there is growing evidence that the intestinal epithelium is also infected. Here, using both colon-derived cell lines and primary non-transformed colon organoids, we engage in the first comprehensive analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 life cycle in human intestinal epithelial cells (hIECs)...

Generations of nurses to come, now called heroes in the media, will have challenges in providing care for persons during this global pandemic. COVID-19 has impacted all demographics, regardless of race, gender, or socioeconomic class globally. African Americans have experienced a disproportionate number of deaths related to COVID-19 in the New Orleans and surrounding Metropolitan areas. According to the Louisiana Department of Health (2020), fifty-seven percent (57.40%) of the deaths in Louisiana related to COVID-19 have been African American (Black) and fifty-five percent (55...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 383, Issue 1, July 2020.

Background: Point-of-care bedside lung ultrasound is a diagnostic adjunct in the management of respiratory diseases. We describe the clinical progress and lung ultrasound findings of a Singaporean COVID-19 intensive care unit patient who was diagnosed with COVID-19 infection. Methods: The clinical course of one COVID-19 patient managed in the intensive care unit was traced. The patient was diagnosed with COVID-19 virus infection and intubated after developing respiratory failure. Serial point-of-care bedside lung ultrasound was performed by the managing intensivist daily, and correlated with the clinical progress and chest X-ray imaging done for the patient...

We briefly frame challenges and steps to overcoming those challenges in delivering care for patients with bipolar disorder via telehealth or telephone during COVID-19. Telehealth provides an invaluable opportunity to provide care for patients even under circumstances of social isolation. The issues discussed in this debate are intended to guide and assist clinicians, both in assessment and intervention, in adjusting to the use of virtual care for patients with bipolar disorder.

A 17-year-old young man with history of a congenital solitary left testis presented to our clinic in late April 2020 with left testicular swelling and discomfort over the preceding few weeks. The patient denied unintentional weight loss or nipple tenderness but reported new, mild left-sided back discomfort. His medical history was notable for asthma and a congenitally absent right testis for which he underwent negative surgical exploration in childhood.