Inpatient covid-19-related comorbidities and ct-semiotics

Introduction. In the Russian Federation, registration of individual COVID-19 cases started at the end of January 2020 that markedly increased in the second half of March. At the moment, the situation with COVID-19 is unstable. As of 2023, COVID-19 incidence in descending order is as follows: USA (104 958 987 people), India (44 684 775 people) and France (39 582 057 people). Russia ranked 10th regarding total COVID-19 incidence (22 137 084 people, including 395 727 fatalities). The infection is able to “overlap” with the underlying pathology, thereby worsening patient’s condition up to death. Lung multislice computed tomography (MSCT) is recommended for all patients with COVID-19. If unavailable, a chest X-ray is performed. The aim of the study was to identify the most frequent comorbid diseases and changes on radiological scan in patients with COVID-19. Materials and methods. The study was carried out at the Infectious Disease Department No. 1, Regional Public Health Institution “Clinical Hospital No. 1” Smolensk. For this, there were analyzed 69 hospital patient records with basic diagnosis — coronavirus infection. The data of anamnesis and additional instrumental investigations were taken into account. 

Results. 69 patients aged between 18 and 91 years were included in the study. Respiratory failure was not observed in 75.81% of cases. A group of patients (66.67%) with comorbidities of organs and systems was identified, among which most common were: arterial hypertension (95.65%), coronary heart disease (78.26%), diabetes mellitus (30.43%), grade 1–2 obesity (17.39%), chronic hepatitis (17.39%). Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and respiratory system were less prevalent. The rate of reported complications is as follows: bilateral polysegmental pneumonia — 72.46%; unilateral polysegmental pneumonia — 2.8%; pleurisy — 4.35%; unilateral hydrothorax — 1.45%. Each of the inpatients underwent radiological examination during hospitalisation. X-ray examination accounted for a smaller proportion (39.13%) and multispiral chest computed tomography (MSCT) — for a bigger percentage (60.87%). Chest MSCT at the beginning of inpatient treatment visualized CT-2 stage (64.29%) in the vast majority, less — CT-1 (26.19%), least frequently — CT-3 (7.14%) and CT-4 (2.38%). Before patient discharge, an average of 12.16% improvement in the radiological picture was found in patients with initial CT-1 stage, 14% — in CT-2, 12% and 26% — in CT-3 and CT-4, respectively. Conclusion. The moderate disease course without respiratory depression prevailed among the patients. Co-morbidities were found mainly in the anamnesis of persons over 50 years old. The most frequent clinical complication of coronavirus infection was bilateral pneumonia. After patient’s hospitalization, clinical and instrumental picture gradually improved, which was confirmed by radiological data.