Objective: We aimed to investigate the demographic shifts in emergency service admissions, possible measures and room for improvement in emergency services during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a respiratory disorder first seen in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Since the report of the first COVID-19 case at the end of 2019 in Wuhan, China, COVID-19 has rapidly spread, first to all regions of China and then to whole world. 1 The virus is spread via respiratory droplets between humans and has spread across the world in a short time, forcing WHO to

Objective: We aimed to investigate the demographic shifts in emergency service admissions, possible measures and room for improvement in emergency services during the Covid-19 pandemic. Methodology: Our study retrospectively analyzed the demographic features and clinical admission types of patients admitted to Batman District State Hospital Emergency Service at two different time periods, one prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and the other during the Covid-19 pandemic. The results were compared between the two periods designated as the pandemic period and the pre-pandemic period. Results: The number of patients admitted to emergency service was 47.681 in the pre-pandemic period and 9455 in the pandemic period (p<0.01). The number of patients admitted for trauma was 1247(2.61%) in the pre-pandemic period and 59(0.62%) in the pandemic period (p<0.01). The number of patients hospitalized to cardiology department or coronary care unit for acute coronary syndrome was 602(1.26%) in the pre-pandemic period and 29(0.3%) in the pandemic period (p<0.01). The number of patients hospitalized to neurological intensive care unit for acute cerebrovascular disease was 542(1.13%) in the pre-pandemic period and 22(0.2%) in the pandemic period (p<0.01). The number of patients hospitalized to pulmonary diseases department or intensive care unit for dyspnea was 622(1.21%) in the pre-pandemic period and 515 (5.4%) in the pandemic period (p <0.01). Conclusion:Measures taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19 infection have caused a significant drop in emergency service admissions. We are of the opinion that this will lead to an increase in deaths occurring at home, and we will soon encounter patients with worse prognosis and overcrowded emergency services. In order to prevent this problem, we believe that the public awareness about emergency conditions requiring emergency service admission should be heightened alongside of the 'stay home' calls.

Background To assess alterations in backscatter from the corneal epithelium, anterior stroma and lens surface in eyes with subclinical, mild and moderate keratoconus (KC). Methods In this single‐centre, cross‐sectional study involving 24 eyes with subclinical KC, 107 eyes with manifest KC (mild = 40 and moderate = 67 eyes) and 90 controls, line densitometry was performed with Pentacam (Oculus Optikgeräte GmbH, Wetzlar, Germany) to obtain simultaneous backscatter values for the corneal epithelium, anterior stroma and anterior lens surface. Backscatter values and Pentacam parameters were used in subsequent statistical analyses. Results Eyes with subclinical, mild and moderate KC had similar epithelial and stromal backscatter (P > 0.05) that was significantly increased compared with the controls (P < 0.05). Although anterior lens surface backscatter did not differ between the control and KC groups (P > 0.05), it was significantly higher in the mild and moderate KC groups than in the subclinical KC group (P < 0.05). In the KC group (n = 131) epithelial backscatter was strongly correlated with stromal backscatter (r = 0.911, P < 0.0001). Conclusions Increased epithelial backscatter and a strong correlation with anterior stromal backscatter in the KC groups were consistent with the epithelium‐stroma interaction involved in KC pathogenesis. Single‐point backscatter analysis can be used with point clouds to construct epithelial and stromal backscatter maps in Pentacam to aid the detection of KC as a novel feature.

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