gizem ISSIN

and 4 more

Background: The present study aimed to determine the duration of hospital admission of the panic diagnosed patients, examine the factors that may influence hospital admission time, and identify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospital admission time. Materials and methods: In this study, the panic diagnosed patients between January 2018 and January 2021 were determined. These patients’ demographic, clinical, and panic diagnosis form data were documented. The duration of hospital admission of patients during and pre-COVID-19 pandemic period was determined. Results: There were 65 panic diagnosed cases, of which one One patient had leukocytoclastic vasculitis, 10 patients had uterine contents without villi or trophoblasts, and 54 patients had unexpected malignancy. The mean time of admission to the hospital of verbally informed and not verbally informed cases were five days and 156 days, respectively in the pre-COVID group. All cases in the COVID pandemic group were verbally informed about panic diagnosis by phone call. The mean time (day) of admission to the hospital was 18.3 days (1-40). Admission times were on mean about 13.3 days longer in verbally informed cases in the COVID pandemic group compared to verbally informed cases in the pre-COVID group. Conclusion: We determined a dramatic decrease in the number of panic diagnosed cases during the COVID pandemic and patients who are verbally informed admitted to the hospital in a shorter time. Integrations of hospital panic diagnosis notification systems to health application programs and primary responsible family physician’s systems may be useful for preventing unwanted delays.

ERCAN YENİLMEZ

and 18 more

Aims: The differential diagnosis of Fever of Unknown Origin (FUO) is still a major clinical challenge despite the advances in diagnostic procedures. In this multicenter study, we aimed to reveal FUO etiology and factors influencing the final diagnosis of FUO in Turkey. Methods: A total of 214 patients with FUO between the years 2015-2019 from 13 tertiary training and research hospitals were retrospectively evaluated. Results: The etiologic distribution of FUO was infections (44.9%), malignancies (15.42%), autoimmune/inflammatory (11.68%) diseases, miscellaneous diseases (8.41%) and undiagnosed cases (19.62%). Brucellosis (10.25%), extrapulmonary tuberculosis (6.54%) and infective endocarditis (6.54%) were the most frequent three infective causes. Solid malignancies (7.1%) and lymphoma (5.6%), adult-onset still’s disease (6.07%) and thyroiditis (5.14%) were other frequent diseases. The etiologic spectrum did not differ in elderly (p<0.05). Infections were less frequent in Western (34.62%) compared to Eastern regions of Turkey (60.71%) (p< 0.001, OR: 0.31, 95% Cl: 0.19 to 0.60). The ratio of undiagnosed etiology was significantly higher in elderly (p: 0.046, OR: 2.34, 95% Cl: 1.00 to 5.48) and significantly lower in Western Turkey (p: 0.004, OR: 3.07, 95% Cl: 1.39 to 6.71). Conclusion: Brucellosis, extrapulmonary tuberculosis and infective endocarditis remain to be the most frequent infective causes of FUO in Turkey. Solid tumors and lymphomas, AOSD and thyroiditis are the other common diseases. The etiologic spectrum did not differ in elderly, on the other hand, infections were more common in Eastern Turkey. A considerable amount of etiology remained undiagnosed despite the state-of-the-art technology in healthcare services.