Implementation of Good Clinical Practice in Early COVID-19 Pandemic
Correspondence Address :
Alina Gabriela Negru,
Piata Eftimie Murgu Nr 2, Timisoara, Timis, Romania.
E-mail: eivanica@yahoo.com
Introduction: The novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread across the globe generating a pandemic. Every affected country has tried its best to mitigate the virus’s effects.
Aim: This study was designed to implement the good clinical practice in the Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases Timis¸ oara (ICDT) for Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) infection by a retrospective search for patients with a possible COVID-19 infection before widespread testing was available in our country.
Materials and Methods: The retrospective study was conducted on selected group of 19 patients admitted to the ICDT, who displayed radiological signs of possible SARS-CoV-2 infection, between September 2019 and May 2020 in collaboration with the Radiology Department. Patients have been followed-up regarding their clinical status and asked to participate in Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody testing at a local laboratory. The patients were divided based on the period they were admitted to the hospital into four groups: September-December 2019, January-February 2020, March-April 2020 and May 2020. The patients tested for coronavirus came from all four timeframes.
Results: Only 13 patients (male: female ratio was 10:3 ; mean age was 71.69 years) from the initial group were available and willing to answer a short interview and only five agreed to be tested for SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies. Most of the patients admitted to the hospital were suffering from acute myocardial infarction (30.7%), as well as heart failure (30.7%), followed by coronary heart disease (15.38%). A 30.7% of the patients had atrial fibrillation, 23% were also diagnosed with pneumonia during their hospital admission, 23% were also being treated for arterial hypertension, 7.69% had diabetes mellitus and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD). Out of the five patients tested for IgG antibodies, two tested positive, with a titre above 1.4.
Conclusion: The patients who have gone through the SARS-CoV-2 infection without being previously diagnosed were identified and followed-up on their health status. By conceiving and performing this study, the authors have strived to establish a new set of rules to advance and improve good clinical practice in unprecedented times.
Cardiovascular diseases, Coronavirus disease-2019, Pandemic protocols, Pandemic strategy
10.7860/JCDR/2021/48640.15724
Date of Submission: Jan 21, 2021
Date of Peer Review: Mar 16, 2021
Date of Acceptance: Oct 15, 2021
Date of Publishing: Dec 01, 2021
AUTHOR DECLARATION:
• Financial or Other Competing Interests: None
• Was Ethics Committee Approval obtained for this study? Yes
• Was informed consent obtained from the subjects involved in the study? Yes
• For any images presented appropriate consent has been obtained from the subjects. NA
PLAGIARISM CHECKING METHODS: [Jain H et al.]
• Plagiarism X-checker: Jan 22, 2021
• Manual Googling: Aug 17, 2021
• iThenticate Software: Oct 30, 2021 (7%)
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