Clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 patients with preexisting dementia: a large multicenter propensity-matched Brazilian cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Although dementia has emerged as an important risk factor for severe SARS-CoV-2 infection, results on COVID-19-related complications and mortality are not consistent. We examined the clinical presentations and outcomes of COVID-19 in a multicentre cohort of in-hospital patients, comparing those with and without dementia. METHODS: This retrospective observational study comprises COVID-19 laboratory-confirmed patients aged ≥ 60 years admitted to 38 hospitals from 19 cities in Brazil. Data were obtained from electronic hospital records. A propensity score analysis was used to match patients with and without dementia (up to 3:1) according to age, sex, comorbidities, year, and hospital of admission. Our primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. We also assessed admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), kidney replacement therapy (KRT), sepsis, nosocomial infection, and thromboembolic events. RESULTS: Among 1,556 patients included in the study, 405 (4.5%) had a diagnosis of dementia and 1,151 were matched controls. When compared to matched controls, patients with dementia had a lower frequency of dyspnoea, cough, myalgia, headache, ageusia, and anosmia; and higher frequency of fever and delirium. They also had a lower frequency of ICU admission (32.7% vs. 47.1%, p < 0.001) and shorter ICU length of stay (7 vs. 9 days, p < 0.026), and a lower frequency of sepsis (17% vs. 24%, p = 0.005), KRT (6.4% vs. 13%, p < 0.001), and IVM (4.6% vs. 9.8%, p = 0.002). There were no differences in hospital mortality between groups. CONCLUSION: Clinical manifestations of COVID-19 differ between older inpatients with and without dementia. We observed that dementia alone could not explain the higher short-term mortality following severe COVID-19. Therefore, clinicians should consider other risk factors such as acute morbidity severity and baseline frailty when evaluating the prognosis of older adults with dementia hospitalised with COVID-19.

Frequency and burden of neurological manifestations upon hospital presentation in COVID-19 patients: Findings from a large Brazilian cohort.

BACKGROUND: Scientific data regarding the prevalence of COVID-19 neurological manifestations and prognosis in Latin America countries is still lacking. Therefore, the study aims to understand neurological manifestations of SARS-CoV 2 infection and outcomes in the Brazilian population. METHODS: This study is part of the Brazilian COVID-19 Registry, a multicentric cohort, including data from 37 hospitals. For the present analysis, patients were grouped according to the presence of reported symptoms (i.e., headache; anosmia and ageusia; syncope and dizziness) vs. clinically-diagnosed neurological manifestations (clinically-defined neurological syndrome: neurological signs or diagnoses captured by clinical evaluation) and matched with patients without neurological manifestations by age, sex, number of comorbidities, hospital of admission, and whether or not patients had underlying neurological disease. RESULTS: From 6,635 hospitalized patients with COVID-19, 30.8% presented reported neurological manifestations, 10.3% were diagnosed with a neurological syndrome and 60.1% did not show any neurological manifestations. In patients with reported symptoms, the most common ones were headache (20.7%), ageusia (11.1%) and anosmia (8.0%). In patients with neurological syndromes, acute encephalopathy was the most common diagnosis (9.7%). In the matched analysis, patients with neurological syndromes presented more cases of septic shock (17.0 vs. 13.0%, p = 0.045), intensive care unit admission (45.3 vs. 38.9%, p = 0.023), and mortality (38.7 vs. 32.6%, p = 0.026; and 39.2 vs. 30.3%, p < 0.001) when compared to controls. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 in-hospital patients with clinically defined neurological syndromes presented a higher incidence of septic shock, ICU admission and death when compared to controls.

Hypothyroidism does not lead to worse prognosis in COVID-19: findings from the Brazilian COVID-19 registry.

BACKGROUND: It is not clear whether previous thyroid diseases influence the course and outcomes of COVID-19. METHODS: The study is a part of a multicentric cohort of patients with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis from 37 hospitals. Matching for age, sex, number of comorbidities, and hospital was performed for the paired analysis. RESULTS: Of 7,762 patients with COVID-19, 526 had previously diagnosed hypothyroidism and 526 were matched controls. The median age was 70 years, and 68.3% were females. The prevalence of comorbidities was similar, except for coronary and chronic kidney diseases that were higher in the hypothyroidism group (p=0.015 and p=0.001). D-dimer levels were lower in patients with hypothyroid (p=0.037). In-hospital management was similar, but hospital length-of-stay (p=0.029) and mechanical ventilation requirement (p=0.006) were lower for patients with hypothyroidism. There was a trend of lower in-hospital mortality in patients with hypothyroidism (22.1% vs 27.0%; p=0.062). CONCLUSION: Patients with hypothyroidism had a lower requirement of mechanical ventilation and showed a trend of lower in-hospital mortality. Therefore, hypothyroidism does not seem to be associated with a worse prognosis.

Relação entre a fração de ejeção do ventrículo esquerdo e razão e/e' com a capacidade funcional na cardiopatia chagásica / Relationship between left ventricular ejection fraction and e /e' ratiowith functional capacity in chagas heart disease

Introdução: disfunção ventricular e capacidade funcional são importantes marcadores de morbimortalidade na cardiopatia chagásica (CCh). Objetivos: verificar a associação entre a capacidade funcional e funções sistólica e diastólica do ventrículo esquerdo na CCh. Metodologia: foram submetidos 35 pacientes com CCh (47,11±8,15 anos) a avaliação clínica, ecocardiograma e teste de esforço cardiopulmonar (TECP), sendo classificados em dois grupos: dilatado (com cardiomiopatia dilatada) e não dilatado (função sistólica preservada). Foram consideradas as variáveis fração de ejeção do ventrículo esquerdo (FEVE), razão E/e' e o pico do consumo de oxigênio (VO2pico). Na análise estatística foram realizados os testes de Pearson ou Spearman e a análise de regressão linear múltipla avaliou o efeito da FEVE e E/e' no VO2pico. Resultados: na amostra total houve correlação significativa entre o VO2pico e a FEVE (r=0,536, p=0,001) e correlação negativa e significativa entre o VO2pico e razão E/e' (r=-0,399; p=0,022). No grupo dilatado (n=16), correlação significativa foi observada entre o VO2pico com a FEVE (r=0,611, p=0,016) e a razão E/e' (r=-0,601, p=0,018). A análise multivariada das variáveis identificou a FEVE e a razão E/e' como fortes preditores do VO2pico (r=0,850; r2 =0,723).Não houve correlação significativa entre o VO2pico e a FEVE (r=0,393, p=0,107) e a razão E/e' (r=0,102, p=0,687) no grupo não dilatado (n=19). Conclusão: a capacidade funcional avaliada pelo VO2pico relaciona-se à função sistólica e diastólica em pacientes com cardiomiopatia dilatada chagásica.

Background: Left ventricular dysfunction and functional capacity (FC) are important markers of morbidity and mortality in Chagas heart disease (CHD), however, the relationship between these clinical parameters remains controversial. Objective: To verify the association between FC and systolic and diastolic functions of the left ventricle in CHD patients. Methods: Thirty-five CHD patients (47.11±8.15 years) underwent clinical evaluation, echocardiography and Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET) and were classified into two groups: dilated group (dilated cardiomyopathy) and non-dilated group (preserved systolic function). The left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), E/e' ratio and peak oxygenuptake (VO2peak)were considered. Statistical analysis was carried outwith Pearson or Spearman correlation tests and backward multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to assess the effect of LVEF and E/e' ratio on VO2peak. Results: In the overall study population, there was a significant correlation between VO2peak and LVEF (r=0.536; p=0.001) and a significant negative correlation between VO2peak and E/e' ratio (r=-0.399;p=0.022). In the dilated group (n=16), a significant correlation was also observed between VO2peak and both LVEF(r=0.611; p=0.016) and E/e' ratio (r=-0.601; p=0.018). The multivariate analysis of these variables identified the LVEF and E/e' ratio as strong predictors of VO2peak (r=0.850; r2=0.723). In contrast, in the non-dilated group (n=19), there was no significant correlation between VO- 2peak and LVEF (r=0.393; p=0.107) and E/e' ratio (r=0.102; p=0.687). Conclusion: Functional capacity assessed by VO2peak was related to systolic and diastolic function in CHD patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.