We diagnosed 11 Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) cases among 71,904 COVID patients attended at 61 Spanish emergency departments (EDs) during the 2‐month pandemic peak. The relative frequency of GBS among ED patients was higher in COVID (0.15‰) than non‐COVID (0.02‰) patients (odds ratio [OR] = 6.30, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.18–12.5), as was the standardized incidence (9.44 and 0.69 cases/100,000 inhabitant‐years, respectively, OR = 13.5, 95% CI = 9.87–18.4). Regarding clinical characteristics, olfactory–gustatory disorders were more frequent in COVID‐GBS than non‐COVID–GBS (OR = 27.59, 95% CI = 1.296–587) and COVID–non‐GBS (OR = 7.875, 95% CI = 1.587–39.09) patients. Although COVID‐GBS patients were more frequently admitted to intensive care, mortality was not increased versus control groups. Our results suggest SARS‐CoV‐2 could be another viral infection causing GBS. ANN NEUROL 2021;89:598–603

Aims We investigated the incidence, risk factors, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of pulmonary embolism (PE) in patients with COVID-19 attending emergency departments (EDs), before hospitalization. Methods and Results We retrospectively reviewed all COVID-19 patients diagnosed with PE in 62 Spanish EDs (20% of Spanish EDs, case group) during the first COVID-19 outbreak. COVID-19 patients without PE and non-COVID-19 patients with PE were included as control groups. Adjusted comparisons for baseline characteristics, acute episode characteristics, and outcomes were made between cases and randomly selected controls (1:1 ratio). We identified 368 PE in 74 814 patients with COVID-19 attending EDs (4.92‰). The standardized incidence of PE in the COVID-19 population resulted in 310 per 100 000 person-years, significantly higher than that observed in the non-COVID-19 population [35 per 100 000 person-years; odds ratio (OR) 8.95 for PE in the COVID-19 population, 95% confidence interval (CI) 8.51–9.41]. Several characteristics in COVID-19 patients were independently associated with PE, the strongest being D-dimer >1000 ng/mL, and chest pain (direct association) and chronic heart failure (inverse association). COVID-19 patients with PE differed from non-COVID-19 patients with PE in 16 characteristics, most directly related to COVID-19 infection; remarkably, D-dimer >1000 ng/mL, leg swelling/pain, and PE risk factors were significantly less present. PE in COVID-19 patients affected smaller pulmonary arteries than in non-COVID-19 patients, although right ventricular dysfunction was similar in both groups. In-hospital mortality in cases (16.0%) was similar to COVID-19 patients without PE (16.6%; OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.65–1.42; and 11.4% in a subgroup of COVID-19 patients with PE ruled out by scanner, OR 1.48, 95% CI 0.97–2.27), but higher than in non-COVID-19 patients with PE (6.5%; OR 2.74, 95% CI 1.66–4.51). Adjustment for differences in baseline and acute episode characteristics and sensitivity analysis reported very similar associations. Conclusions PE in COVID-19 patients at ED presentation is unusual (about 0.5%), but incidence is approximately ninefold higher than in the general (non-COVID-19) population. Moreover, risk factors and leg symptoms are less frequent, D-dimer increase is lower and emboli involve smaller pulmonary arteries. While PE probably does not increase the mortality of COVID-19 patients, mortality is higher in COVID-19 than in non-COVID-19 patients with PE.

The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), quick Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) score and GYM score to predict 30-day mortality in older non-severely dependent patients attended for an episode of infection in the emergency department (ED). We performed an analytical, observational, prospective cohort study including patients 75 years of age or older, without severe functional dependence, attended for an infectious process in 69 Spanish EDs for 2-day three-seasonal periods. Demographic, clinical and analytical data were collected. The primary outcome was 30-day mortality after the index event. We included 1071 patients, with a mean age of 83.6 [standard deviation (SD) 5.6] years; 544 (50.8%) were men. Seventy-two patients (6.5%) died within 30 days. SIRS criteria ≥ 2 had a sensitivity of 65% [95% confidence interval (CI) 53.1-75.9] and a specificity of 49% (95% CI 46.0-52.3), a qSOFA score ≥ 2 had a sensitivity of 28% (95% CI 18.2-39.8) and a specificity of 94% (95% CI 91.9-95.1), and a GYM score ≥ 1 had a sensitivity of 81% (95% CI 69.2-88.6) and a specificity of 45% (95% CI 41.6-47.9). A GYM score ≥ 1 and a qSOFA score ≥ 2 were the cut-offs with the highest sensitivity (p < 0.001) and specificity (p < 0.001), respectively. The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.73 (95% CI 0.66-0.79; p < 0.001) for the GYM score, 0.69 (95% CI 0.61-0.76; p < 0.001) for the qSOFA score and 0.65 (95% CI 0.59-0.72; p < 0.001) for SIRS. A GYM score ≥ 1 may be the most sensitive score and a qSOFA score ≥ 2 the most specific score to predict 30-day mortality in non-severely dependent older patients attended for acute infection in EDs.

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This score could help in the identification of patients with high risk for HT and assess the use of an antibiotic other than LZD, an important issue considering its relation with 30-day mortality observed in our study.