Clinical manifestation and disease progression in COVID-19 infection.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is mainly an infectious disease of the respiratory system transmitted through air droplets, and pulmonary symptoms constitute main presentations of this disease. However, COVID-19 demonstrates a clinically diverse manifestation ranging from asymptomatic presentation to critically illness with severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, respiratory failure, or multiple organ failure. Accumulating evidences demonstrated that COVID-19 has extrapulmonary involvement, including neurological, smelling sensation, cardiovascular, digestive, hepatobiliary, renal, endocrinologic, dermatologic system, and others. Over a third of COVID-19 patients manifest a wide range of neurological symptoms involving the central/peripheral nervous system. Underlying cardiovascular comorbidities were associated with detrimental outcomes, meanwhile the occurrence of cardiovascular complications correlate to poor survival. Gastrointestinal symptoms frequently occur and have been associated with a longer period of illness. Impaired hepatic functions were associated with the severity of the disease. Higher rate of acute kidney injury was reported in critically ill patients with COVID-19. Endocrinologic presentations of COVID-19 include exacerbating hyperglycemia, euglycemic ketosis, and diabetic ketoacidosis. The most common cutaneous manifestation was acro-cutaneous (pernio or chilblain-like) lesions, and other skin lesions consist of maculopapular rash, vesicular lesions, livedoid/necrotic lesions, exanthematous rashes, and petechiae. This review article summarized the general clinical signs and symptoms, radiologic features, and disease manifestation with progression in patients with COVID-19.

Gefitinib-related interstitial lung disease in Taiwanese patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Gefitinib (Iressa; AstreZeneca, Wilmington, DE) is effective in the treatment of NSCLC, especially in the Asian population. However, ILD is usually a serious pulmonary adverse effect and almost leads to cessation of gefitinib treatment. In this study, we investigated the incidence, clinical features, and prognosis of gefitinib-related ILD in Taiwanese patients with NSCLC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective observational study conducted in 2 medical centers and a local teaching hospital. RESULTS: A total of 1080 patients with NSCLC, who received at least 1 dose (250 mg per day) of gefitinib treatment, were enrolled. Of these, 42 patients were diagnosed with ILD. Twenty-five of the 42 patients were diagnosed with gefitinib-related ILD (incidence, 2.3%). The main manifestations of ILD included dyspnea, cough, and hypoxemia. Six of the 25 patients (24%) with gefitinib-related ILD required invasive mechanical ventilation and all patients were treated with steroids. Twenty-two patients (88%) discontinued gefitinib treatment without further rechallenge. Ten (40%) patients died directly from ILD and in-hospital mortality was 52%. Eleven patients received subsequent cytotoxic chemotherapy with a mean of 33.5 days after ILD events. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that gefitinib nonresponder and gefitinib use rather than first-line treatment were associated with poor prognosis when ILD developed during gefitinib treatment. CONCLUSION: Taiwanese patients with NSCLC had a relatively high incidence of ILD during gefitinib treatment. Gefitinib-related ILD is usually life-threatening, especially in gefitinib nonresponders and gefitinib use rather than first-line treatment.

Successful treatment of gefitinib-induced acute interstitial pneumonitis with high-dose corticosteroid: a case report and literature review.

Cytotoxic chemotherapy offers a modest benefit for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with response rates of 20-35% and median survival of 10-12 months. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), gefitinib and erlotinib are active against lung cancer. In retrospective studies, EGFR-TKI therapy among patients harboring EGFR mutations showed response rates higher than 65% and a median survival of 20-30 months. Gefitinib is well tolerated and less toxic compared to conventional cytotoxic drugs, but gefitinib-related interstitial lung disease (ILD) has been reported as a serious adverse effect. Although the mechanism remains unknown, multivariate analysis revealed male sex, history of smoking, and the coexistence of interstitial pneumonia or pre-existence of pulmonary fibrosis and poor performance status were all significant risk factors. Here, we reported a case of gefitinib pneumonitis with severe hypoxemia and impending respiratory failure who showed poor response to intermediate dose of systemic steroids but good recovery with high-dose pulse therapy.