OVERVIEW OF SYMPTOMS OF ONGOING SYMPTOMATIC AND POST-COVID-19 PATIENTS WHO WERE REFFERED TO PULMONARY REHABILITATION - FIRST SINGLE-CENTRE EXPERIENCE IN CROATIA

Background: Coronavirus-2 pandemic has changed the functioning of health systems worldwide. It is not yet fully known which symptoms of the disease are most commonly presented in patients referred for pulmonary rehabilitation. Our aim was to investigate the profile of patients referred for pulmonary rehabilitation; what symptoms they had during the acute phase of the disease and what symptoms were still present at the start of pulmonary rehabilitation. Subjects and methods: Study included ongoing symptomatic and post-COVID patients who attended standard, in person pulmonary rehabilitation program. Patients had COVID-19 disease at least four weeks before attending pulmonary rehabilitation. Patients completed questionnaires of self-reported somatic deficits during acute and post-COVID-19 stage as well as questionnaires regarding their psychological symptoms. Pulmonary function test, expiratory and inspiratory muscle strenght, hand grip strenght and six-minute walk test was performed prior and after pulmonary rehabilitation. Results: Study included 63 patients (32 male, 31 female), with mean age of 52.9 years. During acute COVID-19, majority of patients complained of fatigue, cough, dyspnea, myalgia and headache. More than 85% of patients reported pulmonary deficits during ongoing symptomatic and post-COVID-19 stage. Emotional distress and anxiety levels were significantly elevated in acute stage, while depression, anger and the need for help was not significantly elevated. All reported symptoms were significantly reduced in post-COVID-19 stage. There was statistically significant difference in six-minute walk distance, inspiratory and expiratory muscle strenght and hand grip strenght between first and final testing. Conclusions: Results of our study are similar with previous studies, the most common symptoms during acute phase were fatigue, cough and dyspnea and fatigue and respiratory problems during ongoing symptomatic and post-COVID stage. Emotional distress diminishes signifiacantly in post-COVID stage. Further larger studies are needed to clarify which acute disease symptoms are predominant in patients referred to pulmonary rehabilitation and cause prolongued discomfort

Imunoterapija u tretmanu ne-sitnostaničnog raka pluća

Lung cancer is leading cause of death among malignant disease Worldwide and it is responsible for more than 1, 5 million deaths each year. Lung cancer is divided in two major groups: non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Despite significant improvements, for vast majority of patients chemotherapy still remains the treatment of choice in the first line setting. Progress over the last decade has led to the recognition of immunoevasion as of the leading hallmarks of cancer development. Clinical development was focused on immune checkpoint inhibitors, cytotoxic T-lymphocyte–associated antigen 4 (CTLA4) and programmed death (PD1/PD-L1) pathway. Programmed death 1 protein is another T-cell coinhibitory receptor with a structure similar to that of CTLA-4 but with a distinct biologic function and ligand specificity and it is stimulated with PD-L1. PD-1 or PD-L1 blockade with drugs like nivolumab, pembrolizumab or atezolizumab resulted in superior efficacy comparing to standard chemotherapy in first-line setting. In patient with high PD-L1 expression (50% or more) pemborlizumab should be treatment of choice in first-line setting. PD-L1 expression is at the moment only available biomarker who can predict response to immune checkpoint inhibitors.Karcinom pluća vodeći je uzrok smrti od malignih bolesti te je odgovoran za više od 1,5 milijuna smrti. U većine bolesnika osnovu liječenja karcinoma pluća čini kemoterapija temeljena na platini. Unazad desetak godina, brojna se istraživanje provode o ulozi imunološkog sutava u karcinogenezi. Tumori uspjevaju izbjeći nadzor imunološkog sustava te tako rasti i metastazirati. Koncpet aktivacije imunološkog sutava iznimno je zanimljiv te se pokazalo da blokatori kontrolnih točaka pokazauju dobro učinkovitost u liječenju solidnih tumora poput melanoma ili bubrega. U zadnjih pet godina, inhibitori kontrolnih točaka nivolumab, pembrolizumab i atezoilizumab pokazali su se kao iznimno učinkoviti lijekovi u liječenju bolesnika s karcinomom pluća ranije liječenih klasičnom kemoterapijom. Pembrolizumab se također pokazao kao iznimno učinkovit u liječenju bolesnika sa visokom PD-L1 ekspresijom (PD-L1≥50%) u prvoj liniji liječenja. Ono što je nužno je pronaći biomarker koji bi ukazivao koji će bolesnici regirati na liječenje imunoterapijom. Danas znamo da što je viša ekspresija PD-L1 bolji je odgovor na imunoterapiju, ali i negativni bolesnici mogu odgovoriti na liječenje. Imunoterapija inhibitorima kontrolnih točaka danas je standard u drugoj liniji liječenja karcinoma pluća malih stanica, te je pembrolizumab najbolja opcija za liječenje visoko pozitivnih PD-L1 bolesnika u prvoj liniji liječenja

Monocyte related haematological indices in acute exacerbations of COPD – a new biomarker?

C-reactive protein (CRP) and leukocyte count are standard tools for recognising inflammation in COPD patients. This study aimed to find if there is a pattern in monocyte related haematological indices - monocyte to neutrophil ratio (MNR) and monocyte to lymphocyte ratio (MLR) - which could be helpful in differentiating COPD patients in need for hospitalization due to acute exacerbation of COPD or differentiating frequent COPD exacerbators from non-frequent COPD exacerbators. The study included 119 patients with COPD and 35 control subjects, recruited at the Clinic for Respiratory Diseases Jordanovac, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Croatia. Complete blood count was performed on Sysmex XN-1000, CRP on Cobas c501, and Fbg on BCS XP analyser. Data were analysed with MedCalc statistical software. The COPD patients were divided into three groups – frequent exacerbators (FE), non-frequent exacerbators (NFE), patients hospitalized for acute COPD exacerbations (HAE) and the control group were healthy smokers (HS). A statistically significant difference was found in the values of MNR while comparing these groups of patients: FE vs HAE (p<0.000), NFE vs HAE (p<0.000) and HS vs HAE (p<0.001); and for the values of MLR: FE vs HAE (p<0.022), NFE vs HAE (p<0.000) and HS vs HAE (p<0.000). As MLR and MNR have shown the statistical difference comparing the group of HAE to NFE, FE and HS, MLR and MNR could be valuable and available markers of acute COPD exacerbations and need for hospitalization

Risk factors and severity of functional impairment in long COVID: a single-center experience in Croatia

Aim To determine the frequency of common symptoms in long COVID and their effect on the quality of life, and to determine the factors contributing to a more severe long COVID. Methods The study enrolled 266 patients who were either referred to long-COVID outpatient clinic or were inpatients undergoing rehabilitation. The data were collected between December 2020 and May 2021. We evaluated the symptoms experienced during acute and long COVID and comorbidities. Functional status was assessed with Post Covid Functional Status (PCFS). Results The final sample consisted of 261 patients. After acute COVID-19 period (>4 weeks), almost 80% of patients had impaired functional status. Only 21.5% reported no functional impairment (0 on PCFS scale). A higher PCFS score was associated with female sex (P<0.001) and oxygen therapy requirement during acute disease (P=0.001). However, it was not associated with having a pre-existing lung disease (P=0.749). Disease severity did not pose a risk for developing a more severe long COVID. Conclusion Women were at greater risk for developing greater functional impairment in long COVID, although we have no explanation why. Malignant disease and hypertension also presented a risk factor for greater functional impairment. More studies are warranted to determine if patients with certain lung disease are more susceptible to long COVID

OVERVIEW OF SYMPTOMS OF ONGOING SYMPTOMATIC AND POST-COVID-19 PATIENTS WHO WERE REFFERED TO PULMONARY REHABILITATION - FIRST SINGLE-CENTRE EXPERIENCE IN CROATIA

Background: Coronavirus-2 pandemic has changed the functioning of health systems worldwide. It is not yet fully known which symptoms of the disease are most commonly presented in patients referred for pulmonary rehabilitation. Our aim was to investigate the profile of patients referred for pulmonary rehabilitation; what symptoms they had during the acute phase of the disease and what symptoms were still present at the start of pulmonary rehabilitation. Subjects and methods: Study included ongoing symptomatic and post-COVID patients who attended standard, in person pulmonary rehabilitation program. Patients had COVID-19 disease at least four weeks before attending pulmonary rehabilitation. Patients completed questionnaires of self-reported somatic deficits during acute and post-COVID-19 stage as well as questionnaires regarding their psychological symptoms. Pulmonary function test, expiratory and inspiratory muscle strenght, hand grip strenght and six-minute walk test was performed prior and after pulmonary rehabilitation. Results: Study included 63 patients (32 male, 31 female), with mean age of 52.9 years. During acute COVID-19, majority of patients complained of fatigue, cough, dyspnea, myalgia and headache. More than 85% of patients reported pulmonary deficits during ongoing symptomatic and post-COVID-19 stage. Emotional distress and anxiety levels were significantly elevated in acute stage, while depression, anger and the need for help was not significantly elevated. All reported symptoms were significantly reduced in post-COVID-19 stage. There was statistically significant difference in six-minute walk distance, inspiratory and expiratory muscle strenght and hand grip strenght between first and final testing. Conclusions: Results of our study are similar with previous studies, the most common symptoms during acute phase were fatigue, cough and dyspnea and fatigue and respiratory problems during ongoing symptomatic and post-COVID stage. Emotional distress diminishes signifiacantly in post-COVID stage. Further larger studies are needed to clarify which acute disease symptoms are predominant in patients referred to pulmonary rehabilitation and cause prolongued discomfort