Department of Translational Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy - Via Luigi Borsari, 46, 44121, Ferrara, Emilia Romagna, Italy.
Department of General Surgery, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale Di Ferrara, Ospedale del Delta, via Valle Oppio, 2, Lagosanto, 44023, Ferrara, Emilia Romagna, Italy.
BMC Infect Dis. 2021 Aug 3;21(1):739. doi: 10.1186/s12879-021-06476-y.
COVID-19 is characterized by interstitial pneumonia, but a presentation of the disease with digestive symptoms only may occur. This work was aimed at evaluating: (1) the prevalence of presentation with digestive symptoms only in our cohort of COVID-19 inpatients; (2) differences between patients with and without gastrointestinal onset; (3) differences among males and females with gastrointestinal presentation; (4) outcomes of the groups of subjects with and without gastrointestinal onset.
We retrospectively divided the patients hospitalized with COVID-19 into two groups: (1) the one with digestive symptoms (DSG) and (2) the other without digestive symptoms (NDSG). We compared the subjects of DSG with those of NDSG and males with females in the DSG group only, in terms of demographics (age, sex), inflammation and organ damage indexes, length of stay, in-hospital and 100-day mortality.
The prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms at presentation was 12.5%. The DSG group showed a prevalence of females, and these tended to a shorter hospital stay; DSG patients were younger and with a higher load of comorbidities, but no differences concerning inflammation and organ damage indexes, need for intensification of care, in-hospital and 100-day mortality were detected. Among DSG patients, males were younger than females, more comorbid, with higher serum CRP and showed a longer length of hospital stay. Survival functions of DSG patients, in general, are more favourable than those of NDSG if adjusted for sex, age and comorbidities.
(1) The prevalence of gastrointestinal presentation among hospitalized COVID-19 patients was 12.5%; (2) DSG patients were on average younger, more comorbid and with a prevalence of females, with a shorter hospital stay; (3) in the DSG group, males had a higher Charlson Comorbidity Score and needed a longer hospital stay; (4) DSG subjects seem to survive longer than those of the NDSG group.
COVID-19 的特征是间质性肺炎，但也可能出现仅表现出消化系统症状的疾病。本研究旨在评估：（1）我们的 COVID-19 住院患者队列中仅表现出消化系统症状的患者的患病率；（2）有和无胃肠道发作的患者之间的差异；（3）有胃肠道表现的男性和女性之间的差异；（4）有和无胃肠道发作的患者的结局。
我们回顾性地将 COVID-19 住院患者分为两组：（1）有消化系统症状（DSG）组，（2）无消化系统症状（NDSG）组。我们仅比较了 DSG 组中 DSG 患者和 NDSG 患者以及男性和女性之间的人口统计学特征（年龄、性别）、炎症和器官损伤指标、住院时间、住院和 100 天死亡率。
在出现的症状中，胃肠道症状的患病率为 12.5%。DSG 组女性患病率较高，住院时间较短；DSG 患者年龄较小，合并症较多，但炎症和器官损伤指标、需要加强护理、住院和 100 天死亡率无差异。在 DSG 患者中，男性比女性年轻，合并症更多，血清 CRP 更高，住院时间更长。如果调整性别、年龄和合并症，DSG 患者的生存功能总体上比 NDSG 患者更有利。
（1）在 COVID-19 住院患者中，胃肠道表现的患病率为 12.5%；（2）DSG 患者平均年龄较小，合并症较多，女性患病率较高，住院时间较短；（3）在 DSG 组中，男性的 Charlson 合并症评分较高，需要更长的住院时间；（4）DSG 患者的生存时间似乎比 NDSG 组患者更长。
