The timing of intubation and principles of ICU care in COVID-19

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) has been a serious health problem since it was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and has created a global crisis with its economic, sociological, and psychological aspects. Approximately 15% of cases have a severe clinical presentation, and 5% of patients require admission to the intensive care unit. A significant proportion of patients presents with a rapidly progressing acute respiratory failure and require invasive mechanical ventilation. This article aimed to evaluate how the optimal intubation timing should be determined in cases of acute respiratory failure due to COVID-19 and to offer recommendations for basic intensive care support in the light of our current knowledge.

Ophthalmologic evaluation in geriatric patients: Assessment of consistency between patients' complaints and ocular diagnoses.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to assess the consistency between patients' complaints and their eye diseases. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: RESULTS: The frequencies of at least one newly diagnosed visually important ocular disease were 25.9%, 27.0%, and 45.3% in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively (p<0.001). The same frequencies were significantly higher in patients >75 years of age compared with the younger group (59.1% vs. 22.0%, p<0.001). Although these values were statistically significant in patients ≤75 years of age (p<0.001), they were insignificant in patients >75 years of age according to type of complaints (p=0.773). Patients with diabetes mellitus exhibited significantly lower vision, higher rate of visually important ocular diseases, and higher intraocular pressure readings than patients without diabetes mellitus (p=0.009, 0.015, and 0.002, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Visually important ocular diseases were diagnosed approximately in a quarter of patients who had no complaints about decrease in vision and in more than half of the oldest geriatric patients (>75years) irrespective of the type of complaints.