scholarly journals Low Dose Radiotherapy to Thorax for COVID 19 Patients: A Potential Weapon to Put the Dagger in Devil's heart

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (S1) ◽  
pp. 167-169
Author(s):  
Aman Sharma ◽  
Daya Nand Sharma

The novel coronavirus SARS-Cov-2/COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as a major healthcare burden to the entire world. At the moment there is no specific antiviral treatment recommended for COVID-19, and no vaccine is currently available. The clinical spectrum of SARS-CoV-2 infection ranges from asymptomatic infection, mild upper respiratory tract illness to severe pneumonia with respiratory failure, multi organ failure and death. The inflammatory response induced in pneumonia is complex and involves a variety of mechanisms to defend against pathogens and repair tissue. During inflammation, activation of inflammatory cells releases cytokines and this intense inflammatory reaction can further to life threatening condition know acute respiratory distress syndrome. In the past, low dose radiotherapy has successfully cured patients with unresolved viral pneumonia. It was associated with reduction of mortality in unresolved pneumonias. Radiotherapy at low doses exerts anti-inflammatory effects which have potential to r duce the cytokine storm in COVID pneumonia patients. We hereby briefly touch upon COVID 19 infection and potential of low dose radiotherapy to reverse unresolved pneumonia, prevent deve opment of acute respiratory distress syndrome as well as multi-organ failure.

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 2050313X2093347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Keith ◽  
Matthew Day ◽  
Carol Choe ◽  
Linda Perkins ◽  
Lou Moyer ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about an urgent need for effective treatment, while conserving vital resources such as intensive care unit beds and ventilators. Antivirals, convalescent plasma, and biologics have been used with mixed results. The profound “cytokine storm” induced endotheliopathy and microthrombotic disease in patients with COVID-19 may lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis, and multi-organ failure. We present a case of SARS-COV2 pneumonia with septic shock and multi-organ failure that demonstrated significant clinical improvement after therapeutic plasma exchange. A 65-year-old female with multiple comorbidities presented with progressive dyspnea and dry cough. She was found to be COVID-19 positive with pneumonia, and developed progressive hypoxemia and shock requiring vasopressors, cardioversion, and non-invasive positive pressure ventilation. Given her worsening sepsis with multi-organ failure, she underwent therapeutic plasma exchange with rapid clinical improvement. Her case supports the theory that plasma exchange may help abate the “cytokine storm” induced endotheliopathy and microthrombosis associated with COVID-19. Further studies are needed to identify markers of this pathway and the potential role of plasma exchange in these critically ill patients.


2020 ◽  
pp. 72-79
Author(s):  
I. V. Аndrusovich

The longer the COVID−19 coronavirus pandemic lasts, the more information about its clinical manifestations is accumulated. The incubation period of COVID−19 ranges from 2 to 14 days, rarely up to 3 weeks, but in a significant number of cases an infection is not accompanied with the appearance of clinical symptoms. Currently, the following variants of the clinical course of COVID−19 can be identified as follows: viral load; subclinical; slight; uncomplicated with damage to only the upper respiratory tract; mild pneumonia, severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, etc. The clinical course of COVID−19 depends on the severity, the criteria of which are the intoxication manifestation, the degree of fever and the dominant syndrome. Mild / moderate forms are manifested by frequent increase in body temperature up to 38 ° C, respiratory symptoms, headache, myalgias, palpitations and general malaise. Patients stop distinguishing smells and feel the taste of food. Approximately from the 7th to the 9th days of the disease there are problems with breathing, which indicates the impairment of the lower respiratory tract and the beginning of the second phase of the disease, and its course is regarded as severe. Severe forms of the disease can also be manifested by impaired coordination of movements, slurred speech. In 1 to 4 % of patients there is developed the psychosis in the form of hallucinations. In the elderly, COVID−19 may be accompanied by delirium, lowering blood pressure. The risks of adverse disease are associated with somatic diseases: cardiovascular and nervous systems, respiratory tract, hormonal disorders, etc. Otitis, sinusitis, sepsis, bronchopulmonary infection, thrombosis, myocarditis etc. can be the complications of COVID−19. Computer tomography is an instrumental test that demonstrates the damage of lungs with coronavirus and allows to assess its severity. Key words: coronavirus infection, COVID−19, clinical variants, severity, pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongyuan Zhang ◽  
Xu Wang ◽  
Shoujun Li ◽  
Jun Yan

Abstract Background: To evaluate the effect of low-dose exogenous surfactant therapy on infants suffering acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) after cardiac surgery. Methods: We conducted a retrospective case-control study of infants diagnosed with moderate-severe ARDS after cardiac surgery. A case was defined as a patient that received surfactant and standard therapy, while a control was defined as a patient that underwent standard therapy. The primary endpoint was the improvement in oxygenation index (OI) after 24-hour of surfactant treatment; and secondary endpoints were the ventilator time and PICU time. Results: 22 infants treated with surfactant were matched with 22 controls. Early low-dose (20mg/kg) surfactant treatment was associated with improved outcomes. After surfactant administration for 24-hour, the surfactant group was much better compared with the control group at the 24-hour in OI (difference in average change from baseline, -6.7 [95% CI, -9.3 to -4.1]) (P < 0.01) and VI (mean difference, -11.9 [95% CI, -18.1 to -5.7]) (P < 0.01). Ventilation time and PICU time were significantly shorter in the surfactant group compared with the control group (133.6h±27.2 vs 218.4h±28.7, P < 0.01 ; 10.7d±5.1 vs 17.5d±6.8, P < 0.01). Infants in the surfactant group under 3 months benefit more from OI and VI than the infants over 3 months in a preliminary exploratory analysis.Conclusions: In infants with moderate-severe ARDS after cardiac surgery, early low-dose exogenous surfactant treatment could prominently improve oxygenation and reduce mechanical ventilation time and PICU time. Infants younger than 3 months may get more benefit of oxygenation than the older ones.


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