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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was discovered after unusual cases of severe pneumonia emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan Province (China). Coronavirus is a family of single-stranded RNA viruses. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is transmitted from person to person. Although asymptomatic individuals can transmit the virus, symptomatic patients are more contagious. The incubation period ranges from 3-7 d and symptoms are mainly respiratory, including pneumonia or pulmonary embolism in severe cases. Elevated serum levels of interleukins (IL)-2, IL-6, IL-7 indicate the presence of cytokine release syndrome, which is associated with disease severity. The disease has three main phases: Viral infection, pulmonary involvement, and hyperinflammation. To date, no treatment has proved to be safe or effective. Chest X-ray and computed tomography (CT) are the primary imaging tests for diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia, follow-up, and detection of complications. The main radiological findings are ground-glass opacification and areas of consolidation. The long-term clinical course is unknown, although some patients may develop pulmonary fibrosis. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) is useful to assess pulmonary involvement, to define the affected areas, and to assess treatment response. The pathophysiology and clinical course of COVID-19 infection remain poorly understood. However, patterns detected on CT and PET-CT may help to diagnose and guide treatment. In this mini review, we analyze the clinical manifestations and radiological findings of COVID-19 infection. Sin financiación No data 2020 UEM

Introduction: A recent meta-analysis concluded that adults with asthma have higher LDL-cholesterol levels than healthy controls. Some studies relate this increase with the inhaled corticosteroid dose. In clinical practice we frequently observe high cholesterol levels in our patients with severe asthma. The objective of this study was to evaluate the levels of total cholesterol in patients receiving treatment with high inhaled corticosteroids dose (HICD). Methods: Patients followed-up in a severe asthma unit were included in this retrospective cohort study. Patients on long-term systemic corticosteroids (SC) treatment were excluded, and doses of SC were collected in those who used short bursts during exacerbations. Given that only 35% of our patients had collected the LDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol values, we could not include them in the analysis. Results: We included 70 patients, 81% women, with a mean age of 56 ± 16 years. The mean body mass index (BMI) was 28.62 ± 5.63. The average diagnose age was 30’7 years. 95’7% received fluticasone, while 4’3% beclomethasone, being the average dose (equivalent of fluticasone propionate) of 1024’29 ± 159 mcg. The mean value of total cholesterol was 213’79 ± 33’48 (70% of patients present cholesterol ≥ 200 and 21% of them ≥ 240). We found a statistically significant relationship between BMI and cholesterol levels. Conclusions: 70% of our patients had total cholesterol ≥200 mg / dL, 21% being ≥240 mg / dL. Patients with higher BMI had total cholesterol > 200 mg / dL. More studies should be carried out to clarify the possible relationship between the HICD treatment and the increase in total cholesterol levels.

Backgrounds: Smoking is the leading cause of high levels of carboxyhemogloblin(COHb). We aimed to describe clinical and demographic features in these patients Methods: This is a retrospective observational study with 375 patients with arterial blood gas from Nursery Respiratory Clinic at La Princesa Hospital. We selected patients with high levels of COHb(>2%) and classified them in 3 groups:active smoker(A), never smokers(B) and ex-smokers(C). Socio-demographic and clinical features were correlated with levels of COHb. Results: 73% of the cohort presented high levels of COHb. Average age was 69±19 years. 52% were males. 20% were group A, 32% group B and 48 group C. Comorbidities and clinical features shown in Table1. Almost 30% of our cohort use oxygen theraphy and many of them had high levels of COHb (2.7%: >5% and 49%:2.4-4.9%, p=0.03) of which 23% were group B and whose main indication of oxygen was cardiovascular disease. 16% of patients in groups B and C had passive smoking history. CoHb levels >2.5% were observed in 47% of the patients belonging to groups B and C, while 41% of group A presented COHb levels >5. In Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients, 11% had COHb>5%, and 56% of COPD patients from group B and C had COHb>2.5%. Negative correlation was described between the time without smoking and levels of COHb(r:-0.22 p Conclusions: The longer the non-smoking period, the lower the levels of COHb and the better the polyglobulia levels. Almost half of non-smoking and ex-smokers in our sample presented high COHb, due to non-smoke-free environment

Background: CPAP during night rest is the first line treatment for OSAHS. However, several factors interfere in its adequate compliance and therefore, affect directly its effectiveness. Our study aim was to analyze most relevant causes of therapeutic noncompliance, as well as possible proposals to mitigate this problem. Methods: we have selected 175 individuals from a tertiary hospital pulmonology clinics whose compliance was lower than 60 minutes daily. We’ve analyzed the follow-up place, subjective treatment compliance, daily treatment hours, possible non-compliance reasons and what proposals improve adherence. We tried to contact these 175 patients by phone to complete a standardized questionnaire. Results: 133 patients were contacted. 9,77% do not develop any follow up. 62.4% admitted inadequate compliance, while the remaining (37.31%) denied it. 47 patients do not use CPAP, 39 use it between 1 and 5 hours, 43 between 6 and 8 hours and 4 more than 8 hours. Most common reasons for non-compliance were: interphase intolerance in 22.5% of patients and absence of clinical improvement in 9%. As a possible proposals, 51 patients suggested to make technical and interface improvements and 16 requested to receive more information about the disease and its treatment. 14 patients preferred to withdraw the CPAP therapy. Conclusion: subjective perception of patients own compliance is not always related to actual compliance. Most relevant measures to reduce inadequate compliance are: technical simplification and ergonomic interface improvements to increase the CPAP tolerance and offer all necessary information related to the disease and its treatment.