Öz Purpose: The aim of this retrospective observational study is to compare C-reactive protein to albumin ratio and CURB-65 score in the emergency department in terms of predicting mortality in patients over the age of 18 who were hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia. Materials and Methods: The study includes 613 patients hospitalized between March 15 and April 30, 2020 due to COVID-19 pneumonia detected on thorax computed tomography at the emergency department pandemic area. Hospitalized patients were divided into groups according to positive and negative real-time polymerase chain reaction results. Results: While 73.1% (n: 448) of 613 patients included in the study were hospitalized in the ward, 26.9% (n: 165) were hospitalized in intensive care. 8.6% (n: 53) of the total patients died. In non-survivors patients the mean CURB 65 score was 4±1 (and C-Reactive Protein to Albumin Ratio was 5.6±4.2 Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that CURB 65 and high C-Reactive Protein to Albumin Ratio are independent risk factors for COVID-19 pneumonia. Conclusion: The C-reactive protein to albumin ratio is as sensitive as CURB 65 and can guide the clinician in the early detection of patients with poor prognosis COVID-19 pneumonia. Amaç: Bu retrospektif gözlemsel çalışmanın amacı, COVID-19 pnömonisi nedeniyle hastaneye yatırılan 18 yaş üstü hastalarda mortaliteyi öngörme açısından acil serviste bakılan C-reaktif protein/albumin oranı ile CURB-65 skorunun karşılaştırılmasıdır. Gereç ve Yöntem: Çalışma 15 Mart-30 Nisan 2020 tarihleri arasında acil servis pandemi alanında toraks bilgisayarlı tomografisinde COVID-19 pnömonisi tespit edilerek hastaneye yatırılan 613 hastayı kapsamaktadır. Hastanede yatan hastalar pozitif ve negatif gerçek zamanlı polimeraz zincir reaksiyonu sonuçlarına göre gruplara ayrıldı. Bulgular: Çalışmaya dahil edilen 613 hastanın %73,1'i (n:448) serviste yatarken, %26,9'u (n:165) yoğun bakımda yatmaktaydı. Toplam hastaların %8,6'sı (n:53) öldü. Ölen hastalarda CURB 65 skoru ortalama 4±1 ve C-reaktif protein/albümin oranı 5.6±4.2 idi.. Çok değişkenli lojistik regresyon analizi, CURB 65 skorunu) ve yüksek C-reaktif protein/albümin oranı olduğunu gösterdi.) COVID-19 pnömonisi için bağımsız risk faktörleri olarak göstermiştir. Sonuç: C-reaktif protein/albumin oranı, kötü prognozlu COVID-19 pnömonisi olan hastaların erken tespitinde CURB 65 kadar duyarlı olup klinisyene yol gösterebilir.

Background and Objectives The aim of this study was to show whether the level of lactate in venous blood compared with the Glasgow-Blatchford Bleeding Score (GBS), in patients diagnosed with upper gastrointestinal system (UGI) bleeding in the emergency department, will help to predict the need for transfusion and prognosis. Materials and Methods Patients with UGI bleeding who were admitted to the emergency department were included in the study. The parameters age, gender, referral complaints, comorbidities, lactate levels in venous blood, GBS, endoscopy findings, length of hospital stay, transfusion amount, and outcome of patients were recorded in the data collection form. Results A total of 139 patients were included in the study. The most common complaints were melena (38.1%) and hematemesis (32.4%). The most frequent endoscopic diagnosis was duodenal ulcer (40.3%). The cutoff value of the venous blood lactate level for the prediction of the need for red blood cell transfusion was 1.58 mmol/L, and the cutoff value for GBS was 9.5. While 124 patients were discharged, 15 patients died. The mean value of venous lactate in survived patients was 2.37 mmol/L and 4.80 in dead patients. This difference was statistically significant (p = 0.044). The cutoff value of lactate for the prediction of mortality was 2.32 mmol/L, and the cutoff value for GBS was 13.5. Conclusions The venous blood lactate value of a patient who was admitted to the emergency department with UGI bleeding might be helpful in predicting the transfusion needs of the patient and predicting the mortality.

Introduction: Since December 2019, emergency services and Emergency Medical Service (EMS) systems have been at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic world-wide. Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the reasons and the necessity of transportation to the emergency department (ED) by ambulance and the outcomes of these cases with the admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic period and during the same period in 2019. Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted in which patients transported to the ED by ambulance in April 2019 and April 2020 were compared. The primary outcomes were the changes in the number and diagnoses of patients who were transferred to the ED by ambulance during the COVID-19 period. The secondary outcome was the need for patients to be transferred to the hospital by ambulance. Results: A total of 4,466 patients were included in the study. During the COVID-19 period, there was a 41.6% decrease in ED visits and a 31.5% decrease in ambulance calls. The number of critically ill patients transported by ambulance (with diagnoses such as decompensated heart failure [P <.001], chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] attack (P = .001), renal failure [acute-chronic; P = .008], angina pectoris [P <.001], and syncope [P <.001]) decreased statistically significantly in 2020. Despite this decrease in critical patient calls, non-emergency patient calls continued and 52.2% of the patients transported by ambulance in 2020 were discharged from the ED. Conclusions: Understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting EMS use is important for evaluating the current state of emergency health care and planning to manage possible future outbreaks.

BACKGROUND: Many scoring systems for predicting mortality, rebleeding and transfusion needs among patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) have been developed. However, no scoring system can predict all these outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To show whether the perfusion index (PI), compared with the Rockall score (RS), helps predict transfusion needs and prognoses among patients presenting with UGIB in emergency departments. In this way, critical patients with transfusion needs can be identified at an early stage. DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective cohort study in an emergency department in Turkey, conducted between June 2018 and June 2019. METHODS: Patients' demographic parameters, PI, RS, transfusion needs and prognosis were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 219 patients were included. Blood transfusion was performed in 174 patients (79.4%). The PI cutoff value for prediction of the need for blood transfusion was 1.17, and the RS cutoff value was 5. The area under the curve (AUC) value for PI (AUC: 0.772; 95% confidence interval, CI: 0.705-0.838; P < 0.001) was higher than for RS (AUC: 0.648; 95% CI: 0.554-0.741; P = 0.002). 185 patients (84.5%) were discharged, and 34 patients (15.5%) died. The PI cutoff value for predicting mortality was 1.1, and the RS cutoff value was 7. The AUC value for PI (AUC: 0.743; 95% CI: 0.649-0.837; P < 0.001) was higher than for RS (AUC: 0.725; 95% CI: 0.639-0.811; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: PI values for patients admitted to emergency departments with UGIB on admission can help predict their need for transfusion and mortality risk.

Background: The objective of this study is to investigate the power of CRP/Albumin ratio, NRS-2002, mNUTRIC scores to predict nutritional needs and mortality in patients over 65 years of age diagnosed with acute abdominal syndrome in the emergency department and then transferred to the surgical intensive care unit. Material and Method: CRP/Albumin ratio, APACHE II, SOFA, NRS-2002 and mNUTRIC scores were calculated. The analysis of the data was conducted in IBM SPSS Statistics Base 22.0 package program. Results: In the analytical evaluation made for nutritional needs, AUC value for mNUTRIC was found to be: 0,683, 95% CI 0,611-0,755, p < 0.001. It was found out that mortality of patients had a statistically significant and moderate correlation with mNUTRIC score (r = 0.537; p < 0.001). In the analytical evaluation made for mortality, mNUTRIC's AUC value (AUC: 0.808, 95% CI 0.736-0.880, p < 0.001) was found to be the highest. When the cutoff value determined to predict mortality was taken as 3.5 for mNUTRIC score, sensitivity was 75.9% and specificity was 69.4%. Conclusion: The evaluation of the risk of malnutrition through nutritional risk tools in intensive care patients over 65 years of age with acute abdominal syndrome can also predict nutritional needs in the early period besides mortality. Based on our data, the fact that mNUTRIC score cutoff value in older patients hospitalized in intensive care is 3.5 and higher may be a predictor for ICU mortality.