Background Due to limited capacity, health care systems worldwide have been put in challenging situations since the emergence of COVID-19. To prioritize patients who need hospital admission, a better understanding of the clinical predictors of disease severity is required. In the current study, we investigated the predictors of mortality and severity of illness in COVID-19 from a single center in Cairo, Egypt. Methods This retrospective cohort study included 175 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia and had positive real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results for SARS-CoV-2 from 1 May 2020 to 1 December 2020. Severe COVID-19 was defined as requiring high-flow oxygen (flow rate of more than 8 L/min or use of high flow oxygen cannula), noninvasive ventilation, or invasive mechanical ventilation at any time point during the hospitalization. We used univariate and multivariate regression analyses to examine the differences in patient demographics and clinical and laboratory data collected during the first 24 h of hospitalization related to severe disease or death in all 175 patients. Results Sixty-seven (38.3%) of the study subjects had a severe or critical disease. Elevated d-dimer, leukocytosis, and elevated CRP were found to be independent predictors of severe disease. In-hospital mortality occurred in 34 (19.4%) of the cases. Elevated TLC, urea, the use of invasive mechanical ventilation, and the presence of respiratory bacterial co-infection were found to be independently associated with mortality. Conclusion Clinical and laboratory data of COVID-19 patients at their hospital admission may aid clinicians in the early identification and triage of high-risk patients.

Background Moderate and severe COVID-19 patients typically present with pneumonia. In this study we aimed to detect the occurrence of pulmonary residuals as a late sequela of COVID-19 and to identify it's predictors among moderate and severe cases. Methods This observational prospective study involved 85 COVID-19 patients confirmed by real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) nasopharyngeal swab, patients were recruited in the period of 1 st of June to 1 st of July. Demographic and clinical data were obtained for each patient. Chest imaging was performed initially and after 3 weeks to detect post COVID pulmonary residuals. Results The study population included 74 (87.1%) moderate and 11 (12.9%) severe patients. Patients with older age, male gender, high BMI and initial chest CT of consolidation/mixed consolidation and ground glass opacities (GGOs) had more frequent post COVID-19 pulmonary residuals (P 0.003, 0.026, 0.031, 0.035) respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between patients who showed complete resolution and patients who developed pulmonary residuals regarding the lymphocyte count, serum CRP and ferritin levels (P 0.0001). After logistic regression, male gender, high BMI, initial chest CT of consolidation/mixed consolidation and GGOs, lymphocytopenia, high serum CRP and ferritin levels were the predictors of pulmonary residuals. While the age wasn't statistically significant. Conclusion 38.5% of moderate and severe COVID-19 patients tend to have pulmonary residuals. Independent predictors of pulmonary residuals as a sequela of COVID-19 are male gender, high BMI, initial chest CT of consolidation and mixed consolidation/GGOs, lymphocytopenia, high serum CRP and ferritin levels.

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Background The pandemic had a significant impact on those with underlying chronic health conditions being at risk of developing a more severe disease with rapid progression, significant complications, and with increased risk of mortality. This was also expected in the pulmonary vascular community owing to the vulnerable nature of this population, who are characterized by an increase in the pulmonary vascular resistance leading to right heart failure. This study is aiming to identify the incidence of COVID-19 infection among pulmonary hypertension patients receiving specific therapy as well as the predictors of the COVID-19 disease severity and outcome in those patients. Results Data analysis of 197 PAH and CTEPH patients, showed that the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection is 10.66% (n = 21). Seven patients (33.3%) required hospitalization. Mortality rate is 14.3% (3/21). Severity of COVID19 disease in those patients has statistically significant moderate to strong correlation with higher values of d-dimer (r = 0.821, P = 0.000), ferritin (r = 0.718, p = 0.000), CRP (r = 0.613, p = 0.04), acute renal failure (r = 0.557, p = 0.009), and hypoxemia (r = 0.825, p = 0.000). Mortality from COVID-19 show moderate to strong statistically significant correlations with acute renal failure (r = 0.795, p = 0.000), hypoxemia (r = 0.645, p = 0.002), higher values of ferritin (r = 0.689, p = 0.001) and d-dimer (r = 0.603, P = 0.004). Conclusions COVID-19 in PAH and CTEPH patients is challenging, higher COVID-19 infection rate is present in those patients and is associated with increased disease severity and higher mortality.

Background Driver molecular aberrations, such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene rearrangement, play an important role in the oncogenesis and progression of non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLC). Therefore, this study aimed to detect the incidence of driver mutations among non-squamous NSCLC. Patients and methods This was a retrospective-prospective cohort study on 131 patients with non-squamous NSCLC. Data on age, smoking status, chest symptoms, method of lung cancer diagnosis, molecular testing, including EGFR mutations in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor tissue and serum circulating tumor DNA using next-generation sequencing and ALK gene rearrangement by FFPE tumor tissue, and follow-up data regarding treatment modalities and outcomes were collected. Results The median age of the patients was 57 years (range: 32–79 years). Out of 131 patients, 97 were males (74%), and 90 (68.7%) were smokers. Among 128 patients tested, 16 (12.5%) had EGFR mutations detected with either technique by formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor tissue or/and serum circulating tumor DNA using next-generation sequencing, and 6 (4.7%) had ALK rearrangement by FFPE tumor tissue. The majority (62.6%) presented with metastatic disease. Among the 102 patients who received first-line systemic therapy, the objective response rate was 50.0% in mutated NSCLC versus 14.6% in non-mutated (p < 0.001). Among the eight mutated patients who received first-line tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), 7 patients achieved either complete response or partial response. Among the 22 mutated patients, the median overall survival was 3 months in those who did not receive targeted therapy versus not reached in those who received any type of targeted therapy (p < 0.001). Conclusion Screening patients with newly diagnosed non-squamous NSCLC for driver mutations is essential for major prognostic and therapeutic implications. Early administration of TKIs in mutated patients significantly improves disease outcomes.