Silent hypoxia: A harbinger of clinical deterioration in patients with COVID-19

Patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus can present with a wide variety of symptoms including being entirely asymptomatic. Despite having no or minimal symptoms, some patients may have markedly reduced pulse oximetry readings. This has been referred to as “silent” or “apathetic” hypoxia (Ottestad et al., 2020 [1]). We present a case of a 72-year-old male with COVID-19 syndrome who presented to the emergency department with minimal symptoms but low peripheral oxygen saturation readings. The patient deteriorated over the following days and eventually died as a result of overwhelming multi-organ system failure. This case highlights the utility of peripheral oxygen measurements in the evaluation of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Self-monitoring of pulse oximetry by patients discharged from the emergency department is a potential way to identify patients needing to return for further evaluation.     

Medical patients at high risk for catastrophic deterioration

The objective of this study was to develop criteria to demarcate patients at risk for catastrophic deterioration (arrest or major decompensation) and those likely to require intensive care. From an inception cohort of patients admitted to the medical service, 544 patients were evaluated prospectively for severity of illness and stability by the admitting residents; the course of patients was reviewed blindly by observers. Patients admitted with acute dyspnea, particularly those with chronic pulmonary disease, were at a significantly greater (p less than .01) risk of arrest. All but one of the other arrests occurred in patients who were rated unstable on admission and who had further deterioration of pre-existing problems in the hospital (p less than .0001). The deterioration rates were highest among patients rated as unstable, particularly in patients with comorbid disease. Patients who are unstable on admission or who begin to deteriorate due to comorbid disease or the condition leading to admission, should be considered at extremely high risk for subsequent arrest and should be admitted to critical care units for early observation.     

COVID-19 and emergency department volume: The patients return but have different characteristics

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has altered behaviors in the general population, as well as processes in the healthcare industry. Patients may be afraid to pursue care in the emergency department (ED) due to perceived risk of infection. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of COVID-19 on ED metrics.MethodsAt one metropolitan trauma center ED, we conducted a review of all visits from February to May in 2020 and compared findings with the same months from 2019.ResultsA total of 34,213 ED visits occurred during the study periods (18,471 in 2019 and 15,742 in 2020), with a decline in patient visits occurring after state emergency declarations. In 2020, patients were less likely to be female and more likely to arrive by ambulance. Diagnoses in the musculoskeletal, neurologic, and genitourinary categories occurred in lower proportions in 2020; toxicology, psychiatry, and infectious diseases occurred in higher proportions. In contrast to other insurance categories, Medicare patients comprised a larger share of ED visits in 2020 compared to 2019.DiscussionDespite relatively low local prevalence of COVID-19, we report decreases in ED volume for some medical diagnosis categories. A volume rebound occurred in May 2020, but did not reach 2019 levels. Public health officials should encourage local populations to seek emergency care when concerned, and could consider programs to provide transportation. Patients should continue to protect themselves with social distancing and masks.     

Inflammatory markers are poorly predictive of clinical outcomes among hospitalized patients with COVID-19

BackgroundInflammatory markers are often elevated in patients with COVID-19. The objective of this study is to assess the prognostic capability of these tests in predicting clinical outcomes.MethodsThis was a retrospective cohort study including all patients at least 16 years old with COVID-19 who were admitted from one of five Emergency Departments between March 6th and April 4th, 2020. We included 1123 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19. We analyzed white blood cell count (WBC), absolute lymphocyte count (ALC), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), D-dimer, ferritin, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). We looked at clinical outcomes including death, the need for endotracheal intubation (ETT), the need for renal replacement therapy (RRT), and ICU admission. We report Spearman's ρ² and statistical significance for each correlation with outcomes. We also report positive predictive value, negative predictive value, sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratios, and negative likelihood ratios.ResultsThe mean age of our patient population was 62 (SD 16). Thirty-seven percent of patients self-reported Spanish/Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, 47% reported their race as Black or African-American, and 10% reported their race as non-Hispanic white. Inter-rater reliability was 96%. There was no laboratory value that had both sensitivity and specificity of at least 0.90, or that had a positive predictive value and negative predictive value of at least 0.90, or that had likelihood ratios that could reliably predict a severe course of disease.ConclusionInflammatory markers drawn within 48 h of arrival, though often correlated with clinical outcomes, are not individually highly predictive of which patients in a predominantly older and minority population will die or require intubation, RRT, or ICU admission.     

经急诊诊断脓毒症住院患者流行病学特点分析

目的分析经急诊医学科（ED）诊断脓毒症住院患者特点,为脓毒症早期防治提供依据。 方法采用回顾性队列研究分析2017年1月1日至2020年12月31日天津医科大学总医院收治的2 110例脓毒症住院患者,根据是否经ED诊断住院,将其分为经ED诊断脓毒症住院组（1 274例）和非ED诊断脓毒症住院组（836例）。分析两组患者的流行病学特点以及影响死亡的危险因素。 结果2017至2020年每月脓毒症住院患者占总住院数波动在3.6‰~19.0‰,主要集中于1至3月份,尤其是2月份达到最高。脓毒症住院患者多集中于年龄≥ 70岁、男性、首次住院、住院中位时间15（9,25）d、住院中位费用4.7（2.5,10.1）万元、城职医保,病死率为25.5%（538/2 110）。经ED诊断脓毒症住院患者随住院次数增加,病死率逐渐升高;死亡患者多集中于住院时间≤ 7 d和≥ 61 d、年龄≥ 70岁以及住院费用≥ 3~< 6万元;年龄、住院次数和住院时间是经ED诊断脓毒症住院患者死亡的危险因素,且患者年龄≥ 70岁死亡风险高于18~39岁者,住院次数≥ 3次的死亡风险高于<3次患者,住院时间为14 d内的死亡风险高于其他时间段（P均< 0.05）。经ED诊断脓毒症住院、低龄、女性是脓毒症住院患者生存的保护因素,住院次数≥ 3次是危险因素（P均< 0.05）。 结论经ED诊断脓毒症住院是患者生存的保护因素,临床医生应从社会学特征、住院次数、住院时间和医疗消费角度提高对脓毒症早期救治的认识。     

COVID-19:Masks do not influence neurocognitive performance during a shift at the emergency department

<正>The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the widespread mandatory use of personal protective equipment (PPE),including filtering face pieces (FFP). Emergency medical care providers now commonly use this equipment.     

Predictors of intubation in COVID-19 patients undergoing awake proning in the emergency department

BackgroundAwake prone positioning (PP) has been used to avoid intubations in hypoxic COVID-19 patients, but there is limited evidence regarding its efficacy. Moreover, clinicians have little information to identify patients at high risk of intubation despite awake PP. We sought to assess the intubation rate among patients treated with awake PP in our Emergency Department (ED) and identify predictors of need for intubation.MethodsWe conducted a multicenter retrospective cohort study of adult patients admitted for known or suspected COVID-19 who were treated with awake PP in the ED. We excluded patients intubated in the ED. Our primary outcome was prevalence of intubation during initial hospitalization. Other outcomes were intubation within 48 h of admission and mortality. We performed classification and regression tree analysis to identify the variables most likely to predict the need for intubation.ResultsWe included 97 patients; 44% required intubation and 21% were intubated within 48 h of admission. Respiratory oxygenation (ROX) index and P/F (partial pressure of oxygen / fraction of inspired oxygen) ratio measured 24 h after admission were the variables most likely to predict need for intubation (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.82).ConclusionsAmong COVID-19 patients treated with awake PP in the ED prior to admission, ROX index and P/F ratio, particularly 24 h after admission, may be useful tools in identifying patients at high risk of intubation.     

Comparison of clinical risk scores for triaging high-risk chest pain patients at the emergency department

Background

Many of the clinical risk scores routinely used for chest pain assessment have not been validated in patients at high risk for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We performed an independent comparison of HEART, TIMI, GRACE, FRISC, and PURSUIT scores for identifying chest pain due to ACS and for predicting 30-day death or re-infarction in patients arriving through Emergency Medical Services (EMS).

Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 65 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Liaoning,China

BACKGROUNDCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly to multiple countries through its infectious agent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The severity, atypical clinical presentation, and lack of specific anti-viral treatments have posed a challenge for the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19. Understanding the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 cases in different geographical areas is essential to improve the prognosis of COVID-19 patients and slow the spread of the disease.AIMTo investigate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics and main therapeutic strategy for confirmed COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Liaoning Province, China.METHODSAdult patients (n = 65) with confirmed COVID-19 were enrolled in this retrospective study from January 20 to February 29, 2020 in Liaoning Province, China. Pharyngeal swabs and sputum specimens were collected from the patients for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 nucleic acid. Patient demographic information and clinical data were collected from the medical records. Based on the severity of COVID-19, the patients were divided into nonsevere and severe groups. All patients were followed until March 20, 2020.RESULTSThe mean age of 65 COVID-19 patients was 45.5 ± 14.4 years, 56.9% were men, and 24.6% were severe cases. During the 14 d before symptom onset, 25 (38.5%) patients lived or stayed in Wuhan, whereas 8 (12.3%) had no clear history of exposure. Twenty-nine (44.6%) patients had at least one comorbidity; hypertension and diabetes were the most common comorbidities. Compared with nonsevere patients, severe patients had significantly lower lymphocyte counts [median value 1.3 × 10⁹/L (interquartile range 0.9-1.95) vs 0.82 × 10⁹/L (0.44-1.08), P < 0.001], elevated levels of lactate dehydrogenase [450 U/L (386-476) vs 707 U/L (592-980), P < 0.001] and C-reactive protein [6.1 mg/L (1.5-7.2) vs 52 mg/L (12.7-100.8), P < 0.001], and a prolonged median duration of viral shedding [19.5 d (16-21) vs 23.5 d (19.6-30.3), P = 0.001]. The overall median viral shedding time was 19.5 d, and the longest was 53 d. Severe patients were more frequently treated with lopinavir/ritonavir, antibiotics, glucocorticoid therapy, immunoglobulin, thymosin, and oxygen support. All patients were discharged following treatment in quarantine.CONCLUSIONOur findings may facilitate the identification of severe cases and inform clinical treatment and quarantine decisions regarding COVID-19.     

Continuous central venous oximetry and shock index in the emergency department: use in the evaluation of clinical shock.

Initial therapy of shock in the emergency department (ED) emphasizes the normalization of physiologic variables such as heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and central venous pressure (CVP) rather than restoration of adequate tissue oxygenation. After hemodynamic stabilization of MAP, CVP, and HR, the authors examined tissue oxygenation as indicated by continuous central venous oximetry (SCVO2), lactic acid concentration, and shock index (SI). Sixteen consecutive nonrandomized patients presenting to the ED of a large urban hospital in shock (MAP < 60 mm Hg, HR > 120 beats/min, and altered sensorium) were initially resuscitated with fluid, blood, inotropes, and/or vasoactive drug therapy to normalize MAP, CVP, and HR. In addition, SCVO2, arterial lactate concentration, and SI were measured after completion of resuscitation in the ED. Eight patients (group no. 1) had inadequate tissue oxygenation reflected by low SCVO2 (less than 65%). Four patients in group no. 1 had elevated arterial lactic acid concentration. All group no. 1 patients had an elevated SI (> 0.7) suggesting persistent impairment of left ventricular stroke work. Eight patients (group no. 2) had normal or elevated SCVO2 (> 65%). In group no. 2, arterial lactic acid concentration was elevated in six and SI in seven patients. Normalization of hemodynamic variables does not adequately reflect the optimal endpoint of initial therapy in shock in the ED. Most (94%) of these patients continue to have significant global ischemia and cardiac dysfunction as indicated by reduced SCVO2 and elevated lactic acid concentration and SI. Systemic tissue oxygenation should be monitored and optimized in the ED in these critically ill patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Prediction of clinical deterioration after admission from the pediatric emergency department

BackgroundAn ongoing threat to hospitalized patients is delayed recognition of clinical deterioration and its association with increased morbidity and mortality.ObjectiveThis study evaluated the ability of Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) clinicians to predict clinical deterioration of patients admitted from the Pediatric Emergency Department (PED). Clinical deterioration was defined as unanticipated transfer to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) within 12 h of PED-to-ward admission.MethodsThis prospective study was conducted in the PED of an urban, academic, tertiary-care children’s hospital. Nurses, attending physicians, fellows, and residents completed surveys about their predicted risk of clinical deterioration for each patient admitted to the pediatric ward using a visual analog scale (VAS), and their level of certainty in their prediction using a Likert scale. Additional data included clinician years of experience, and continuity of care versus patient hand-off between clinicians.Results4482 surveys were completed by clinicians for 2892 unique admissions over ten months. Twenty-two patients required transfer to an ICU within 12 h of PED-to-ward admission. Nurses’ predictions of deterioration risk were higher for patients who went on to require ICU transfer than for patients who did not. Level of certainty correlated with years of clinician experience and with continuity of care, and was higher for patients predicted to have a low risk of deterioration.ConclusionsClinicians are more certain of their predictions with increasing experience, continuity of care, and when predicted risk is low.     

Convalescent plasma associates with reduced mortality and improved clinical trajectory in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

BACKGROUNDEvidence supporting convalescent plasma (CP), one of the first investigational treatments for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has been inconclusive, leading to conflicting recommendations. The primary objective was to perform a comparative effectiveness study of CP for all-cause, in-hospital mortality in patients with COVID-19.METHODSThe multicenter, electronic health records–based, retrospective study included 44,770 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in one of 176 HCA Healthcare–affiliated community hospitals. Coarsened exact matching (1:k) was employed, resulting in a sample of 3774 CP and 10,687 comparison patients.RESULTSExamination of mortality using a shared frailty model, controlling for concomitant medications, date of admission, and days from admission to transfusion, demonstrated a significant association of CP with lower mortality risk relative to the comparison group (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 0.71; 95% CI, 0.59–0.86; P < 0.001). Examination of patient risk trajectories, represented by 400 clinico-demographic features from our real-time risk model (RTRM), indicated that patients who received CP recovered more quickly. The stratification of days to transfusion revealed that CP within 3 days after admission, but not within 4 to 7 days, was associated with a significantly lower mortality risk (aHR = 0.53; 95% CI, 0.47–0.60; P < 0.001). CP serology level was inversely associated with mortality when controlling for its interaction with days to transfusion (HR = 0.998; 95% CI, 0.997–0.999; P = 0.013), yet it did not reach univariable significance.CONCLUSIONSThis large, diverse, multicenter cohort study demonstrated that CP, compared with matched controls, is significantly associated with reduced risk of in-hospital mortality. These observations highlight the utility of real-world evidence and suggest the need for further evaluation prior to abandoning CP as a viable therapy for COVID-19.FUNDINGThis research was supported in whole by HCA Healthcare and/or an HCA Healthcare–affiliated entity, including Sarah Cannon and Genospace.     

Clinical characteristics of adult patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia

BackgroundThe clinical spectrum of COVID-19 has a great variation from asymptomatic infection to acute respiratory distress syndrome and eventually death. The mortality rates vary across the countries probably due to the heterogeneity in study characteristics and patient cohorts as well as treatment strategies. Therefore, we aimed to summarize the clinical characteristics and outcomes of adult patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia in Istanbul, Turkey.MethodsA total of 722 adult patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia were analyzed in this single-center retrospective study between March 15 and May 1, 2020.ResultsA total of 722 laboratory-confirmed patients with COVID-19 pneumonia were included in the study. There were 235 (32.5%) elderly patients and 487 (67.5%) non-elderly patients. The most common comorbidities were hypertension (251 [34.8%]), diabetes mellitus (198 [27.4%]), and ischemic heart disease (66 [9.1%]). The most common symptoms were cough (512 [70.9%]), followed by fever (226 [31.3%]), and shortness of breath (201 [27.8%]). Lymphocytopenia was present in 29.7% of the patients, leukopenia in 12.2%, and elevated CRP in 48.8%. By the end of May 20, 648 (89.7%) patients had been discharged and 60 (8.5%) patients had died. According to our study, while our overall mortality rate was 8.5%, this rate was 14.5% in elderly patients, and the difference was significant.ConclusionsThis case series provides characteristics and outcomes of sequentially adult patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia in Turkey.