COVID-19

Cardiologists and infectiologists from the the Inselspital comment on the possible biphasic effect of Angiotensin‐Converting Enzyme Inhibitors/Angiotensin Receptor Blockers in Covid-19.

The authors describe the bifunctional role of ACE2 as a “double-edged sword”, which turns off the renin-angiotensin system and leads to beneficial effects but also mediates unique susceptibility to lung and cardiovascular disease in COVID-19 patients by serving as the SARS-CoV-2 receptor.

App based large scale UK study demonstrates that loss of smell accompanied 59% of SARS-CoV-2 positive cases, but only 18% of negative cases with similar other symptoms

Clinginess, inattention, irritability and fear of asking questions about the epidemic are reported as major psychological reactions among children > 3 years of age in China.

Ferguson and colleagues from the Imperial College London estimate with infection propagation models that, across 11 countries between 7 and 43 million individuals have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 up to 28th March, representing between 1.9% and 11.4% of the population. With current government interventions remaining in place, they estimated that interventions across all 11 countries will have averted 59,000 deaths up to 31 March [95% uncertainty range 21,000-120,000].

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, laboratories are rushing to produce reliable antibody tests. Antibodies are markers of a previous infection and they can be found in a patient’s blood sample any time from about a week after the infection happened. The most highly anticipated expectation of antibody tests to COVID-19 is to understand how many cases of COVID-19 have actually occurred in a population.

Out of 416 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, 19.7% had cardiac injury, and were at a significant higher risk of death compared with patients without cardiac injury. Although the exact mechanism of cardiac injury needs to be further explored, the findings presented here highlight the need to consider this complication in COVID-19 management.

This review about the Coronavirus disease 2019 gives the reader information how Covid-19 is associated with a high inflammatory burden that can induce vascular inflammation, myocarditis, and cardiac arrhythmias.

In their official statement, the European Society of Radiology (ESR) and the European Society of Thoracic Imaging (ESTI) summarise main imaging findings of COVID-19, provide advice on the role of CT in the early diagnosis of COVID-19, and offer guidance on organisational measures for radiology departments during this pandemic.

Older age and the presence of diabetes, hypertension, and severe obesity increases morbidity and mortality in patients with COVID-19. Considering the high prevalence of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and hypertension in patients with DM, it is unknown whether diabetes independently contributes to this increased risk. Plasma glucose levels and diabetes are independent predictors for mortality and morbidity in patients with SARS. Novel ways to deliver care to our diabetes patients using telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and wearable technologies are needed.