Spontaneous pneumomediastinum incidence and clinical features in non-intubated patients with COVID-19

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the presentation characteristics and disease course of seven patients with COVID-19 who spontaneously developed pneumomediastinum without a history of mechanical ventilation.METHODS: A total of seven non-intubated patients with COVID-19, of age ranging from 18-67 years, who developed spontaneous pneumomediastinum between 01 April and 01 October 2020 were included in the study. Patients’ demographic data, clinical variables, and laboratory values were examined. Spontaneous pneumomediastinum was evaluated using posteroanterior chest radiography and thorax computed tomography.RESULTS: During the research period, 38,492 patients reported to the emergency department of our hospital with COVID-19 symptoms. Of these, spontaneous pneumomediastinum was detected in seven patients who had no previous history of intubation. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (2/7) and asthma bronchiale (2/7) were determined as the most common causes of comorbidity.CONCLUSION: In our study, the frequency of spontaneous pneumomediastinum developing without pneumothorax was found to be high in non-intubated patients. Whether this is related to the nature of the disease or it is a result of the increase in cases diagnosed incidentally owing to the increasing use of low-dose computed tomography should be explored in further studies

Mortality prediction ability of phycians in intensive care units of Turkey (MOPAP)

KUCUK, Mehtap PEHLIVANLAR/0000-0003-2247-4074; KUCUK, Ahmet Oguzhan/0000-0002-6993-0519; Ozlu, Tevfik/0000-0003-4881-3097; Ozturk, Ayperi/0000-0003-0692-4784; Yalcinsoy, Murat/0000-0003-3407-7359; Kefeli Celik, Hale/0000-0002-0850-4524; Palabiyik, Onur/0000-0003-3876-4279; Aydin, Davut/0000-0002-8983-644X; Sahiner, Yeliz/0000-0002-5377-3870WOS:000590890600001PubMed: 33295718Introduction: Intensive care physicians are increasingly involved in decision making about the prognosis of intensive care unit ICU patients. With this study; we aimed to evaluate the power of clinician foresight at prediction of mortality in patient at triage to intensive care and patient follow-up. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in ICUs located in various geographical regions of Turkey between January 1, 2017-April 30, 2017. The clinical research was planned as observational, multicenter, cross-sectional. Results: A total of 1169 intubated patients were followed in 37 different ICU. At the beginning of the follow-up we asked the physician who will follow the patient in the ICU to give a score for the probability of survival of the patients. Scoring included a total of 6 scores from 0 to 5, with the "0" the worst probability "5" being the best. According to this distribution, only 1 (0.9%) of 113 patients who were given 0 points survived. Three (6.1%) of 49 with the best score of 5 died. Survival rates were significantly different in each score group (r: -0.488; p< 0.001). After the combined mortality estimation scores based on the clinical observations of the physicians (0 and 1 point score was combined as non-survive, 4 and 5 score was combined as survived) 320 of the 545 patients were estimated to be dead and 225 were predicted survival. Sensitivity and spesifity of scoring system to predict mortality was 91.56% (95% Cl: 87.96-94.37), 76.89% (95% CI: 70.82-82.23) respectively. Conclusion: in this study, we concluded that the physicians who follow the patients in the ICU can predict the poor prognosis at the time of admission and the high mortality rate. The physician's opinion on mortality estimation should be considered in intensive care mortality scoring in addition to other laboratory and clinical parameters

RESEARCH BURDEN OF INTERSTITIAL LUNG DISEASES IN TURKEY - RBILD

Introduction: The aim of our study is to investigate the etiological distribution of ILD in Turkey by stratifying the epidemiological characteristics of ILD cases, and the direct cost of initial diagnosis of the diag-nosed patients. Material-Method: The study was conducted as a multicenter, prospective, cross-sectional, clinical observation study. Patients over the age of 18 and who accepted to participate to the study were included and evaluated as considered to be ILD. The findings of diagnosis, examination and treatment carried out by the cent-ers in accordance with routine diagnostic procedures were recorded observationally. Results: In total,1070 patients were included in this study. 567 (53%) of the patients were male and 503 (47%) were female. The most frequently diagnosed disease was IPF (30.5%). Dyspnea (75.9%) was the highest incidence among the presenting symptoms. Physical examination found bibasilar inspiratory crackles in 56.2 % and radiological findings included reticular opacities and interlobular septal thickenings in 55.9 % of the cases. It was observed that clinical and radiological findings were used most frequently (74.9%) as a diagnostic tool. While the most common treatment approaches were the use of systemic steroids and antifibrotic drugs with a rate of 30.7% and 85.6%, respectively. The total median cost from the patient's admission to diagnosis was 540 Turkish Lira. Conclusion: We believe that our findings compared with data from other countries will be useful in showing the current situation of ILD in our country to discuss this problem and making plans for a solution

Can we predict patients that will not benefit from invasive mechanical ventilation? A novel scoring system in intensive care: the IMV mortality prediction score (IMPRES)

KUCUK, Ahmet Oguzhan/0000-0002-6993-0519; Kirakli, Cenk/0000-0001-6013-7330; KUCUK, Mehtap PEHLIVANLAR/0000-0003-2247-4074; Aksoy, Iskender/0000-0002-4426-3342WOS: 000504051300010PubMed: 31655511Background/aim: The present study aimed to define the clinical and laboratory criteria for predicting patients that will not benefit from invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) treatment and determine the prediction of mortality and prognosis of these critical ill patients. Materials and methods: The study was designed as an observational, multicenter, prospective, and cross-sectional clinical study. It was conducted by 75 researchers at 41 centers in intensive care units (ICUs) located in various geographical areas of Turkey. It included a total of 1463 ICU patients who were receiving invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) treatment. A total of 158 parameters were examined via logistic regression analysis to identify independent risk factors for mortality; using these data, the IMV Mortality Prediction Score (IMPRES) scoring system was developed. Results: The following cut-off scores were used to indicate mortality risk: 8, very high risk. There was a 26.8% mortality rate among the 254 patients who had a total IMPRES score of lower than 2. The mortality rate was 93.3% for patients with total 1M PRES scores of greater than 8 (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The present study included a large number of patients from various geographical areas of the country who were admitted to various types of ICUs, had diverse diagnoses and comorbidities, were intubated with various indications in either urgent or elective settings, and were followed by physicians from various specialties. Therefore, our data are more general and can be applied to a broader population. This study devised a new scoring system for decision-making for critically ill patients as to whether they need to be intubated or not and presents a rapid and accurate prediction of mortality and prognosis prior to ICU admission using simple clinical data