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Introduction. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation has found wide application in clinical practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, and systemic inflammatory response syndrome play an important role in the pathogenesis of COVID-19. Our research was designed to study correlations in-between those factors and the impact of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation on them.Aim. The study of systemic inflammatory response and endothelial function in patients with COVID-19 during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.Material and methods. In the course of a prospective study, we examined 100 COVID-19 patients aged 26 to 75 years, median 55 years [47;60], who were treated at the N.V. Sklifosovsky Research Institute for Emergency Medicine, using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. As a control group (normal), 25 practically healthy people whose median age was 32 years [25;39] were examined. The function of the vascular endothelium was assessed by the content of nitric oxide stable metabolites in the blood serum and the level of angiotensin-converting enzyme. Next, the ratio of nitric oxide metabolite to angiotensin-converting enzyme level was calculated, reflecting the imbalance between endotheliumdependent vasodilation and vasoconstriction. To assess the severity of oxidative stress in blood serum, malondialdehyde was determined as a marker of lipid peroxidation. The state of the antioxidant system was assessed in terms of total antioxidant status of blood serum. The presence of an imbalance in the system of lipid peroxidation and the antioxidant system total antioxidant status was judged by the oxidative stress coefficient, i.e. the ratio of malondialdehyde to the total antioxidant activity.Results. The analysis showed the presence and progression of endothelial dysfunction, impaired vascular regulation, activation of free radical processes, the presence of an imbalance in the prooxidant/antioxidant system, as well as the progression of the inflammatory process with a decrease in the level of markers of the COVID-19 severity.Conclusion. Further studies of the correlation between endothelial damage and the severity of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome may be of fundamental importance for explaining the pathophysiological mechanisms of COVID-19 course and developing new treatments for such patients.

BACKGROUND Our study provides a unique opportunity to compare the course of the disease with a new coronavirus infection in seriously ill patients in the groups of vaccinated and unvaccinated patients hospitalized in the infectious intensive care units of N.V. Sklifosovsky Research Institute for Emergency Medicine of the Moscow Health Department since the start of the vaccination campaign.AIM OF STUDY  The  study of  the  composition  of  hospitalized  patients  with  COVID-19  in  the  N.V. Sklifosovsky Research  Institute  for  Emergency Medicine of the Moscow Health Department in serious condition, requiring resuscitation, in groups of vaccinated and unvaccinated patients in terms of their age and gender characteristics, the severity of the condition and duration of treatment, the presence of concomitant (chronic) diseases, as well as the outcome of hospitalization.MATERIAL AND METHODS The initial analyzed material was data from the Unified Medical Information and Analytical System (EMIAS) of the Institute and statistical cards of patients who left the hospital. The formation of the main group of vaccinated patients was carried out in accordance with the instructions of the Moscow Department of Health and in pursuance of the letter of the Office of Rospotrebnadzor for the city of Moscow No. I-17-17/1 dated January 26, 2021 “On monitoring COVID-19 cases in those vaccinated against a new coronavirus infection “. The Institute has created a registry of hospitalized patients diagnosed with Coronavirus infection caused by the COVID-19 virus, who have a certificate of vaccination with registration in EMIAS. Also, to determine vaccinated patients, we used information from the Headquarters for measures to prevent the importation and spread of infection caused by the 2019-nCoV coronavirus in the city of Moscow. The comparison group included patients with coronavirus infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, hospitalized in the infectious diseases intensive care units of the Institute and not having information about the certificate in EMIAS. The analyzed period was counted from the moment the register was created and amounted to 6 months: from May 1 to October 31, 2021. Discrete numerical accounting characteristics of each unit of observation (hospitalized patient) were age, duration of stay in the hospital (including in intensive care). Categorical data were gender, diagnosis, source of admission, severity, presence of pneumonia upon admission, history of chronic diseases, outcomes of hospitalization. After the anonymization of the personal data of patients and the distribution of patients into comparison groups, the obtained information was processed by standard means of mathematical statistics using the R-free software computing environment. The calculation of additional absolute and relative values, average errors of indicators was made. Statistical significance of differences in numerical values was determined using the Student’s t-test, categorical values were calculated using the ӽ2 test. In both cases, the p-value was chosen to be less than 0.05.RESULTS When comparing the course of coronavirus infection, concomitant diseases, the duration and nature of inpatient treatment, the frequency of external and internal transfers between different departments, as well as disease outcomes in vaccinated and unvaccinated patients hospitalized at N.V. Sklifosovsky Research Institute for Emergency Medicine of the Moscow Health Department revealed:the average duration of stay both in clinical units and in intensive care units in vaccinated patients is significantly less than in unvaccinated patients;all patients were admitted to the hospital in a serious or extremely serious condition caused by severe clinical manifestations of coronavirus infection in unvaccinated patients and comorbid diseases in most of the vaccinated patients;the mortality among vaccinated patients is significantly lower, and the immediate cause of death was almost always complications of a severe course of competing (non-infectious)CONCLUSION The study showed that in vaccinated patients with intense post-vaccination immunity, the risk of developing a severe course of coronavirus infection (requiring resuscitation) is much lower. Along with this, the duration of treatment is also significantly reduced, especially in intensive care units, and the likelihood of an unfavorable outcome of the disease is reduced to a minimum.

Introduction. Clinical assessment of consciousness in patients coming out of a coma remains a topic of discussion. Monitoring these patients over time is challenging not only because of the slow fluctuations in their neurological status, but also because doctors are not fully aware of the classification of chronic disorders of consciousness (CDC), and how to use the Coma Recovery Scale-revised (CRS-R), which was specifically developed for this group of patients. In practice, most doctors use standard neurological examination to assess consciousness rather than the CRS-R. We have hypothesized that this approach leads to contradictory and poorly standardized results. Materials and methods. We investigated the level of inter-expert reliability in pairs of three medical specialists: neurologists, neurosurgeons and neurocritical care specialists (working in neurocritical care units) in the clinical assessment of consciousness. Their examination findings were compared to the CRS-R scores. Results. The inter-expert reliability was poor in all three specializations when using clinical examination to determine the degree of impaired consciousness in patients with CDC. An average level of IER (Cohen's kappa = 0.46) was found only in the neurosurgeonCRS-R pair. Conclusion. A scale with detailed criteria is different to a standard clinical examination and has a higher level of IER. Moving from subjective evaluation to a standardized CRS-R will enable medical specialists to determine a patients rehabilitation potential and predict disease progression more accurately. Educational programmes, including virtual platforms, should be developed to encompass most of the medical community.