Objectives
Patients with asthma often suffer from concomitant allergic rhinitis (AR). The Control of Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma Test (CARAT) is a validated tool to assess asthma and rhinitis multimorbidity. Turkish language validity and reliability of CARAT and its compatibility with other scales were evaluated in the study.
Methods
Patients with asthma and concomitant AR were tested with CARAT. Pulmonary function tests, Asthma Control Test (ACT), Assessment Tool for Asthma (ATA) questionnaire and visual analogue scale (VAS) were also used at the same day. With the VAS, patients determined their rhinitis symptom levels, and asthma specialist determined the rhinitis and asthma control levels separately. These questionnaires were repeated in 14 ± 2 days.
Results
Three quarters (77%) of the 100 patients were female (mean age 46.5 years). The mean CARAT score was 19.6 ± 7.2. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the Turkish version of the CARAT scale was 0.83, showing a high level of internal consistency. Test–retest reliability coefficient was determined as r = 0.98 (p < 0.001). The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin coefficient of the CARAT scale was 0.79. The p value of the Bartlett test was <0.001. ACT, ATA and VAS expert scales were correlated with CARAT total score (0.577 ≤ r ≤ 0.871). The CARAT scale did not show statistically significant difference according to gender, education, working status, smoking status, presence of polyps and multiple allergen sensitivity (p > 0.05).
Conclusion
The Turkish version of the CARAT is a reliable alternative tool for physicians in determining disease control in adult patients with asthma and AR.
Objective
Pulmonary embolism is a severe source of mortality and morbidity in patients with severe and critical coronavirus disease 2019. It is not yet clear whether the tendency to thrombosis is increased in the mild-to-moderate course of COVID-19. Our research aims to show the clinical benefit of Q-SPECT/CT in diagnosing PD in outpatients treated with mild-to-moderate course of COVID-19 and to determine the frequency of perfusion defects in these patients having relatively lower risk.
Methods
All patients who underwent Q-SPECT/CT with suspicion of embolism were examined retrospectively. Only patients with low clinical probability and mild-to-moderate course of COVID-19 for PE were included in the study. The patients were evaluated comparatively as those with and without perfusion defects. Patients were divided into laboratory suspicion, clinical suspicion, or clinical and laboratory suspicion.
Results
In outpatients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 with low clinical probability for PE, PD without CT abnormality was detected with a rate of 36.6% with Q-SPECT/CT performed for complaints of high
d
-dimer and/or dyspnea. None of the patients had PD at more proximal level than the segment level. PD with no concomitant CT abnormality was observed with a rate of 56.5% in patients with both clinical and laboratory suspicion. For
d
-dimer = 0.5 mg/dL cut-off sensitivity is 85%, for
d
-dimer = 1.5 mg/dL cut-off specificity 81%.
Conclusion
Thrombosis tendency is also present in outpatients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, and these patients should also be offered anticoagulant prophylaxis during the COVID-19 period.
In the original publication of the article, the corresponding author was wrongly assigned as "Sermin Borekci" instead of "Buket Caliskaner Ozturk".The publisher sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience this error may have caused.Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Bacillus Calmette–Guerin vaccine is administered for protection against tuberculosis and may also have beneficial effects against some viral respiratory tract infections. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the relationship between Bacillus Calmette–Guerin vaccination which is confirmed by BCG scar, and the frequency and course of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Among 490 patients, 400 patients who accepted to participate in the study were included. After the consent of patients, age, gender, body mass index, comorbidities, smoking, history, and the progress of COVID-19 of these patients were investigated; the presence and number of Bacillus Calmette–Guerin scars were recorded by a physician. Data from groups with and without COVID-19 history were compared. There was no relation between presence and number of the BCG scar and COVID-19 related hospitalization and intensive care unit admission. When groups with and without COVID-19 history compared, no statistically significant difference was found with the presence and number of Bacillus Calmette–Guerin scars (P > 0,05). No association was found between the presence or number of BCG scars and the frequency and course of COVID-19 in individuals with Bacillus Calmette–Guerin vaccination history confirmed by the presence of Bacillus Calmette–Guerin vaccine scars. Currently, the most important protection against COVID-19 is the COVID-19 vaccine.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.