ObjectiveTo analyze the clinical characteristics and epidemiological characteristics of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 treated early in Jiangxi province.MethodsFour-night patients with coronavirus disease 2019 treated in this hospital from January 21st to 27th, 2020 were included in this study. The epidemiological and clinical data of patients after admission were collected, and laboratory tests such as blood routine, urine routine, stool routine, liver and kidney function, electrolytes, myocardial enzymes, erythrocyte sedimentation (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), calcitonin, coagulation, T cell subset and Chest CT were reviewed. The clinical results of common and severe/critically ill patients were compared.ResultsOf the 49 patients, 40 were common and 9 were severe/critical. Fourty-six patients had a clear history of contact with Wuhan or other areas of Hubei. The sex ratio was 2.06∶1, and the average age was 42.9 years. The symptoms were mainly fever (78.7%), cough (38.8%), and fatigue (18.4%). 28.6% (14 cases) of patients had hypertension and diabetes. Serum lymphocyte count and calcium concentration of the patients were decreased, but lactate dehydrogenase, ESR, CRP and serum amyloid A were increased in these patients. T lymphocyte subsets (CD3+, CD4+, CD8+) decreased significantly in these patients. Forty-seven patients (95.9%) had single or scattered patchy ground glass density shadows on the chest CT. Compared with common patients, the patients with severe/critical patients were older (P=0.023), hospitalized later (P=0.002), and had higher comorbidities (P=0.017). ESR (P=0.001）, CRP (P=0.010) and the serum amyloid A (P=0.040) increased significantly, while CD3+ (P<0.001), CD4+ (P=0.012), CD8+ (P=0.006) decreased significantly in severe/critical patients.ConclusionsThe patients with coronavirus disease 2019 in Jiangxi province are commonly imported from Wuhan. Severe/critical patients are older, hospitalized later, and have more medical complications and more severe systemic inflammatory reactions than common patients.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the efficacy of convalescent plasma (CP) in the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). MethodsPubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, VIP, WanFang Data and CNKI databases were electronically searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the efficacy of CP in the treatment of COVID-19 from inception to September 15th, 2021. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies; then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4.1 software. ResultsA total of 16 RCTs involving 15 301 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that CP treatment did not reduce mortality compared with no-placebo (RR=0.99, 95%CI 0.93 to 1.05, P=0.63) or normal saline (RR=1.06, 95%CI 0.60 to 1.86, P=0.84). However, compared with standard plasma, the mortality of CP group was lower (RR=0.59, 95%CI 0.37 to 0.95, P=0.03). In addition, compared with no-placebo or normal saline, CP treatment could not improve the clinical condition at 28-30 days, reduce mortality at early treatment and in patients without invasive mechanical ventilation when randomized. ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that compared with no-placebo or normal saline, CP does not reduce mortality in patients with COVID-19. However, when the disease progresses to the point where standard plasma is required, CP may reduce mortality. In addition, use of CP in patients with early or non-critical COVID-19 failed to reduce mortality. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high-quality studies are required to verify the above conclusion.
Objective To systematically review the efficacy and safety of glucocorticoids for severe COVID-19 and to provide references for the treatment strategy of severe COVID-19 patients. Methods PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov, WanFang Data and CNKI databases were electronically searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that reported glucocorticoid therapy for severe COVID-19 patients from inception to August 26th, 2021. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed using RevMan 5.3 software. Results A total of 7 RCTs involving 6 236 patients were included. The meta-analysis results showed that compared with usual care, glucocorticoids significantly reduced the all-cause mortality of severe COVID-19 (RR=0.84, 95%CI 0.77 to 0.91, P<0.000 1), whereas no significant difference was found in the progression of complex diseases between the two groups (RR=0.84, 95%CI 0.69 to 1.01, P=0.06). Glucocorticoids did not increase adverse effects in severe COVID-19 compared with usual care (general adverse events: RR=1.15, 95%CI 0.66 to 2.03, P=0.62; serious adverse events: RR=1.13, 95%CI 0.54 to 2.38, P=0.75). Conclusion Current evidence suggests that glucocorticoids are effective in treating severe COVID-19 without significantly increasing adverse events. However, due to the limited quantity and quality of the included studies, more high-quality studies are needed to verify the conclusion.
Most patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have a good prognosis, but a certain proportion of the elderly and people with underlying diseases are still prone to develop into severe and critical COVID-19. Kidney is one of the common target organs of COVID-19. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication of severe COVID-19 patients, especially critical COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care units. AKI associated with COVID-19 is also an independent risk factor for poor prognosis in patients. This article mainly focuses on the epidemiological data, possible pathogenesis, diagnostic criteria, and prevention and treatment based on the 5R principle of AKI associated with COVID-19. It summarizes the existing evidence to explore standardized management strategies for AKI associated with COVID-19.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic at the end of December 2019, more than 85% of the population in China has been infected. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) mainly affects the respiratory system, especially the lungs. The mortality rate of patients with severe infection is high. A percentage of 6% to 10% of patients will eventually develop into COVID-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (CARDS), which requires mechanical ventilation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support. Some patients who survive acute lung injury will subsequently develop post COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis (PCPF). Both fully treated CARDS and severe PCPF are suitable candidates for lung transplantation. Due to the special course, evaluation strategies are different from those used in patients with common end-stage lung disease. After lung transplantation in COVID-19 patients, special treatment is required, including standardized nucleic acid testing for the novel coronavirus, adjustment strategy of immunosuppressive drugs, and rational use of antiviral drugs, which is a big challenge for the postoperative management of lung transplantation. This consensus was evidence-based written and was reached by experts after multiple rounds of discussions, providing reference for assessment and postoperative management of patients with interstitial pneumonia after COVID-19 infection.
According to the requirements for the “three districts and two channels” in the sanitary industry standard Technique Standard for Isolation in Hospitals, combining with the spirit of current documents related to the prevention and control of coronavirus disease 2019, in order to guide medical institutions at all levels to conduct standardized design of fever clinics in accordance with the principle of “combining normal time and epidemic period”, this article explains the design points of the fever clinics for the prevention and control of coronavirus disease 2019, introduces the specific methods for the fever clinics to achieve “three districts and two channels”, draws a schematic diagram of the fever clinics in general hospitals, and explains the functional layout and medical procedures of the clean area, potential contaminated area, and contaminated area in detail; at the same time, a schematic diagram of the change of fever clinics from “normal” to “during the epidemic” is drawn, and the ideas for the conversion and the process after the conversion are introduced. It proposes design ideas and drawing references for the construction, transformation, and expansion of fever clinics.
Objective To evaluate the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) impact on diagnosis related groups (DRGs) in a general hospital based on the front page of the medical record. Methods The first page data of discharge medical records of Nanjing First Hospital from February to March 2019 (before the epidemic) and from February to March 2020 (during the epidemic) were selected. Five indexes including total weight, number of DRGs, case mixed index index, time consumption index and cost consumption index were calculated. The rank of DRGs indexes of departments was compared by rank-sum ratio (RSR) method. The departments were sorted by frequency distribution and linear regression equation. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 impact on DRGs index of surgical departments and non operative departments was observed. Results Twenty-eight departments were included from February to March 2019, and 25 departments were included from February to March 2020. After the outbreak of COVID-19, the total DRGs index rank (RSR) decreased from 12.982 to 11.710. Ophthalmology, burn and plastic surgery, orthopedics, otorhinolaryngology, stomatology and pain department were the departments with lower ranking; the departments of gynecology, oncology, immunology and neurology were ranked higher. After the outbreak of COVID-19, the DRGs related indexes of surgical departments and non-surgical departments decreased significantly in terms of total weight and the number of DRGs (P<0.05). Conclusions COVID-19 affects the overall quality of hospital difficulty, and the surgical departments are significantly involved. The RSR level of several departments is reduced. In the face of the epidemic situation, hospitals should offset or weaken the uncertainty brought by the epidemic situation to the hospital disease treatment and ensure the high-quality hospital treatment by improving the “technical source”, ensuring the “disease source pool”, optimizing the “process chain” and strengthening the “new media”.
Since January 2020, due to the epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019, all universities in China have postponed their studies or even suspend their studies. In response to the teaching policy of “suspending class, but keeping teaching and learning” , college teachers have rapidly changed into online teaching mode. However, how to ensure the quality and effect of online teaching still needs further exploration. Through analyzing the course characteristics of medical imaging diagnostics and students’ learning situations, this study discusses how to design detailed online teaching projects and improve the teaching quality and how to select online software suitable for the course. A questionnaire survey was conducted to evaluate the effect of online teaching during the spring course in 2020, selecting a total of 297 clinical and other undergraduate students of grade 2017 from West China School of Medicine of Sichuan University. The results showed that the detailed online teaching programs including “video learning” “distance teaching” “periodic examination” “weakness tutorial” were helpful to the learning process agreed by the majority of students. During the epidemic period, online teaching method can help students master the content of medical imaging diagnosis. In the era of Internet, the “online+offline” teaching mode is expected to be popularized in the future.
ObjectiveTo investigate the high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) signs of patients diagnosed with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and explore its evolution features during hospitalization.MethodsFrom January 17, 2020 to February 26, 2020, HRCT images from 15 COVID-19 patients were analyzed. All the patients had positive nucleic acid test results of SARS-CoV-2. The imaging features of initial and follow-up of each patient were reviewed and graded based on the severity of lung lesions.ResultsAmong the 15 COVID-19 patients, ground-glass opacity (GGO) was found in 14 cases. Six patients presented with consolidation and 3 with fibrosis. Five patients had multi-lobe involvement. Subpleural distribution pattern was present in 12 patients (80.0%) and peribronchovascular distribution pattern was present in 2 patients (13.3%). The severity score on HRCT images at the follow-up was significantly higher than that at the initial (4.6±3.4 vs. 3.5±2.5, P=0.018 2). Increase of random distribution pattern (5 cases) were also noted at the follow-up.ConclusionsChest HRCT of COVID-19 patients is characterized with GGO mainly distributed in subpleural areas and a rapid progression within a short time interval. HRCT could provide a sensitive monitor to observe disease progression for COVID-19 patients.