Acute Clinical Syndromes and Suspicion of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: The Experience of a Single Romanian Center in the Early Pandemic Period
<i>Background and Objectives</i>: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, patients with chronic diseases suffering exacerbations have required acute medical care. The purpose of our study was to determine useful criteria for the differentiation of patients with acute cli...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Medicina |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1010-660X/57/2/121 |
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| author | Raluca Ecaterina Haliga Victorita Sorodoc Catalina Lionte Ovidiu Rusalim Petris Cristina Bologa Adorata Elena Coman Luminita Gina Vata Gabriela Puha Gabriela Dumitrescu Oana Sirbu Alexandra Stoica Alexandr Ceasovschih Mihai Constantin Andreea Nicoleta Catana Elisabeta Jaba Laurentiu Sorodoc |
| author_facet | Raluca Ecaterina Haliga Victorita Sorodoc Catalina Lionte Ovidiu Rusalim Petris Cristina Bologa Adorata Elena Coman Luminita Gina Vata Gabriela Puha Gabriela Dumitrescu Oana Sirbu Alexandra Stoica Alexandr Ceasovschih Mihai Constantin Andreea Nicoleta Catana Elisabeta Jaba Laurentiu Sorodoc |
| author_sort | Raluca Ecaterina Haliga |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <i>Background and Objectives</i>: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, patients with chronic diseases suffering exacerbations have required acute medical care. The purpose of our study was to determine useful criteria for the differentiation of patients with acute clinical syndromes and suspicion of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. <i>Materials and Methods</i>: This was an observational retrospective study, conducted in an internal medicine clinic from April to May 2020. We collected clinical, biological, and computed tomography (CT) data on patients with exacerbations of chronic diseases and clinical suspicion of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients with an already-positive real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test for SARS-CoV-2 on presentation at the emergency department were excluded from our study. <i>Results</i>: Of 253 suspected cases, 20 were laboratory-confirmed as having SARS-CoV-2 infection by RT-PCR, whereas COVID-19 diagnosis was ruled out in the remaining 233. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) correlated significantly with COVID-19 diagnosis in suspected patients, while laboratory markers were not significantly different between the two groups. Of the suspected patients, significantly higher percentages of dry cough, fever, myalgias, sore throat, loss of smell and appetite, and ground-glass opacities (GGOs) on CT were found in SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals. <i>Conclusions</i>: The study demonstrated that, until receiving the result of an RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 (usually 12–24 h), association with VTE as a comorbidity, fever, dry cough, and myalgia as clinical features, and GGO on CT are the main markers for the identification of COVID-19 patients among those suspected with acute clinical syndromes. Our results also provide evidence for doctors not to rely solely on biological markers in the case of suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with exacerbations of chronic diseases. These data are useful for faster decision-making with regard to suspected COVID-19 patients before receiving RT-PCR test results, thus avoiding keeping patients in crowded emergency departments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T11:17:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-79943146f9f844a9929437b741b2321c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1010-660X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T11:17:44Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Medicina |
| spelling | doaj.art-79943146f9f844a9929437b741b2321c2023-09-02T01:49:00ZengMDPI AGMedicina1010-660X2021-01-015712112110.3390/medicina57020121Acute Clinical Syndromes and Suspicion of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: The Experience of a Single Romanian Center in the Early Pandemic PeriodRaluca Ecaterina Haliga0Victorita Sorodoc1Catalina Lionte2Ovidiu Rusalim Petris3Cristina Bologa4Adorata Elena Coman5Luminita Gina Vata6Gabriela Puha7Gabriela Dumitrescu8Oana Sirbu9Alexandra Stoica10Alexandr Ceasovschih11Mihai Constantin12Andreea Nicoleta Catana13Elisabeta Jaba14Laurentiu Sorodoc15Department of Internal Medicine, “St. Spiridon” Emergency Clinical Hospital, 700111 Iași, RomaniaDepartment of Internal Medicine, “St. Spiridon” Emergency Clinical Hospital, 700111 Iași, RomaniaDepartment of Internal Medicine, “St. Spiridon” Emergency Clinical Hospital, 700111 Iași, RomaniaDepartment of Internal Medicine, “St. Spiridon” Emergency Clinical Hospital, 700111 Iași, RomaniaDepartment of Internal Medicine, “St. Spiridon” Emergency Clinical Hospital, 700111 Iași, RomaniaDepartment of Internal Medicine, “St. Spiridon” Emergency Clinical Hospital, 700111 Iași, RomaniaDepartment of Internal Medicine, “St. Spiridon” Emergency Clinical Hospital, 700111 Iași, RomaniaDepartment of Internal Medicine, “St. Spiridon” Emergency Clinical Hospital, 700111 Iași, RomaniaDepartment of Internal Medicine, “St. Spiridon” Emergency Clinical Hospital, 700111 Iași, RomaniaDepartment of Internal Medicine, “St. Spiridon” Emergency Clinical Hospital, 700111 Iași, RomaniaDepartment of Internal Medicine, “St. Spiridon” Emergency Clinical Hospital, 700111 Iași, RomaniaDepartment of Internal Medicine, “St. Spiridon” Emergency Clinical Hospital, 700111 Iași, RomaniaDepartment of Internal Medicine, “St. Spiridon” Emergency Clinical Hospital, 700111 Iași, RomaniaDepartment of Infectious Diseases, “St. Spiridon” Emergency Clinical Hospital, 700111 Iași, RomaniaStatistics Department, FEEA, “Al. I. Cuza” University, 700506 Iasi, RomaniaDepartment of Internal Medicine, “St. Spiridon” Emergency Clinical Hospital, 700111 Iași, Romania<i>Background and Objectives</i>: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, patients with chronic diseases suffering exacerbations have required acute medical care. The purpose of our study was to determine useful criteria for the differentiation of patients with acute clinical syndromes and suspicion of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. <i>Materials and Methods</i>: This was an observational retrospective study, conducted in an internal medicine clinic from April to May 2020. We collected clinical, biological, and computed tomography (CT) data on patients with exacerbations of chronic diseases and clinical suspicion of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients with an already-positive real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test for SARS-CoV-2 on presentation at the emergency department were excluded from our study. <i>Results</i>: Of 253 suspected cases, 20 were laboratory-confirmed as having SARS-CoV-2 infection by RT-PCR, whereas COVID-19 diagnosis was ruled out in the remaining 233. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) correlated significantly with COVID-19 diagnosis in suspected patients, while laboratory markers were not significantly different between the two groups. Of the suspected patients, significantly higher percentages of dry cough, fever, myalgias, sore throat, loss of smell and appetite, and ground-glass opacities (GGOs) on CT were found in SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals. <i>Conclusions</i>: The study demonstrated that, until receiving the result of an RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 (usually 12–24 h), association with VTE as a comorbidity, fever, dry cough, and myalgia as clinical features, and GGO on CT are the main markers for the identification of COVID-19 patients among those suspected with acute clinical syndromes. Our results also provide evidence for doctors not to rely solely on biological markers in the case of suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with exacerbations of chronic diseases. These data are useful for faster decision-making with regard to suspected COVID-19 patients before receiving RT-PCR test results, thus avoiding keeping patients in crowded emergency departments.https://www.mdpi.com/1010-660X/57/2/121acute clinical syndromessuspicion of SARS-CoV-2 infectiondifferential diagnosis |
| spellingShingle | Raluca Ecaterina Haliga Victorita Sorodoc Catalina Lionte Ovidiu Rusalim Petris Cristina Bologa Adorata Elena Coman Luminita Gina Vata Gabriela Puha Gabriela Dumitrescu Oana Sirbu Alexandra Stoica Alexandr Ceasovschih Mihai Constantin Andreea Nicoleta Catana Elisabeta Jaba Laurentiu Sorodoc Acute Clinical Syndromes and Suspicion of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: The Experience of a Single Romanian Center in the Early Pandemic Period Medicina acute clinical syndromes suspicion of SARS-CoV-2 infection differential diagnosis |
| title | Acute Clinical Syndromes and Suspicion of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: The Experience of a Single Romanian Center in the Early Pandemic Period |
| title_full | Acute Clinical Syndromes and Suspicion of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: The Experience of a Single Romanian Center in the Early Pandemic Period |
| title_fullStr | Acute Clinical Syndromes and Suspicion of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: The Experience of a Single Romanian Center in the Early Pandemic Period |
| title_full_unstemmed | Acute Clinical Syndromes and Suspicion of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: The Experience of a Single Romanian Center in the Early Pandemic Period |
| title_short | Acute Clinical Syndromes and Suspicion of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: The Experience of a Single Romanian Center in the Early Pandemic Period |
| title_sort | acute clinical syndromes and suspicion of sars cov 2 infection the experience of a single romanian center in the early pandemic period |
| topic | acute clinical syndromes suspicion of SARS-CoV-2 infection differential diagnosis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1010-660X/57/2/121 |
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