Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pneumonia Scoring System Comparison and Risk Factors.

OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus disease 2019 is a disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, a novel type of coronavi- rus, which causes pneumonia in some hosts. No specific scoring method exists for mortality evaluation in novel coronavirus pneumonia. The aim of this study was to investigate factors affecting coronavirus disease 2019 mortality and comparison of pneumonia scoring sys- tems, pneumonia severity index, CURB-65, and MuLBSTA. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this single-center clinical study, 151 patients who had been diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 infection and pneumonia between March 11 and May 31, 2020, were evaluated retrospectively. Correlation between patients' symptoms, comorbidities, drugs in use, radiological findings, and mortality was investigated. Parameters were also evaluated regarding their contribution to additional treatment requirements and days of fever response. RESULTS: A correlation between mortality and higher scores of pneumonia severity index, CURB-65, and MuLBSTA was found. When parameters were investigated separately, elevated glucose and urea levels, presence of diabetes, renal failure, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cerebrovascular events and known malignancies, lymphocyte count, smoking history, radiological find- ings, and age correlated with mortality. In addition to these parameters, elevated calcium, potassium, brain natriuretic peptide, troponin, d-dimer, C-reactive protein, HC03, and lactate dehydrogenase levels were found significant regarding mortality. These parameters were not found statistically relevant regarding additional treatment requirement, fever response day, and total treatment duration. CONCLUSION: A modified version of present pneumonia scoring systems will be required to rigorously evaluate the severity of a patient's condition. A new scoring system that uses components of the present ones may prove useful and with further studies, a similar follow-up algorithm may be created.

Cushing's syndrome due to adrenocorticotropic hormone-secreting metastatic neuroendocrine tumor of unknown primary origin: a case report and literature review.

BACKGROUND: In this article, we present a case of neuroendocrine neoplasm of unknown primary origin (UPO NEN), which is a rare cause of ectopic Cushing's syndrome (ECS) presenting numerous challenges, together with a literature review. CASE REPORT: A 43-year-old male patient presented with clinical features consistent with Cushing's syndrome (CS) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-dependent hypercortisolemia. Despite a suspicious lesion on pituitary MRI, the high-dose dexamethasone suppression test and bilateral inferior petrosal sinus sampling results were not compatible with Cushing's disease. Bilateral non-homogeneous opacities were observed in the thorax CT of the patient, who also had a history of COVID-19 infection, but no tumoral lesion was detected. When 68Ga-SSTR PET/CT and 18FDG-PET/CT were performed, multiple metastatic foci were detected in mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes and the axial skeleton. Paratracheal-subcarinal lymph nodes were excised mediastinoscopically, and the diagnosis of NEN was made. Histopathological findings indicated that the possible origin was an atypical pulmonary carcinoid with a low Ki-67 labeling index. After controlling hypercortisolemia, a regimen of somatostatin analogs and capecitabine plus temozolomide was decided upon as treatment by a multidisciplinary council. CONCLUSION: This is a challenging case of UPO NEN presenting with ECS and confounding factors, such as previous infection and incidental lesions, during the diagnosis process. The case in question highlighted the fact that atypical pulmonary carcinoid with a low proliferation index may cause visible metastases even when radiologically undetectable.

Sarcopenia and Its Prognostic Role on Hospitalization and In-Hospital Mortality in Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients with At Least One Cardiovascular Risk Factor.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 infection is a global pandemic that has affected the whole world population. We aimed to evaluate the prognostic role of cross-sectional area, muscle index, and muscle attenuation values in computed tomography-based skeletal groups [erector spinae muscle, pectoralis muscle, and total skeletal muscle] of patients hospitalized for coronavirus disease 2019 and with at least 1 cardiovascular risk factor. METHODS: A total of 232 patients with coronavirus disease 2019 and at least 1 cardiovascular risk factor were enrolled in the study, retrospectively. The cross-sectional area, muscle index, and attenuation of erector spine muscle, pectoralis muscle, and total skeletal muscle were automatically measured on computed tomography images. The study population was assigned into tertiles on the basis of the total SMcsa index. The relationship between the values obtained and the length of hospital stay, admission to intensive care unit, the need for invasive mechani cal ventilation, and mortality was investigated. RESULTS: Admission to intensive care unit, need for invasive mechanical ventilation, and mor tality were higher at tertile 3 groups than in the other groups (all P values <.001). Statistically, all muscle measurements were significantly lower in tertile 3 (P <.001). Diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and total SMcsa index were predictors of in-hospital mortality in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 on the basis of Cox regression analysis. In the Kaplan-Meier analysis for the proportion of survivors relative to the total SMcsa index, tertile 3 had the highest mortal ity (survival rates 57%, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Sarcopenia and attendant cardiovascular comorbidities can effectively assess dis ease severity and predict outcome in patients with coronavirus disease 2019.