Comparison of the Degree of Chest CT Scan Abnormalities in COVID-19 and Influenza Patients.

Introduction In the emergency department (ED), COVID-19 and influenza are two common viral diseases. They cause similar symptoms in the respiratory system, and most patients' symptoms are relatively mild. We have reported previously that COVID-19 and influenza infections cause similar abnormalities in chest X-ray readings in the ED.

COVID-19 vs. Influenza: A Chest X-ray Comparison.

Introduction COVID-19 and influenza are primarily respiratory diseases, have similar symptoms with most patients developing mild to moderate illness, and show similar features on chest X-rays. We hypothesize that patients seeking treatments at the emergency department (ED) due to COVID-19 or influenza infection will have similar severity levels of features on chest X-rays, with most of them demonstrating normal to mildly abnormal chest X-ray findings.  Methods Chest X-ray images of 312 COVID-19 patients and 312 influenza patients were obtained from the teaching files of a general diagnostic radiologist.

Veterans more likely to start hemodialysis with an arteriovenous fistula.

Hemodialysis via arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) is associated with reduced morbidity and mortality when compared to alternative vascular accesses, yet few patients in the United States start dialysis with AVFs. Recent studies have demonstrated higher quality of care for many conditions in Veterans Affairs' Medical Centers (VAMC); however, differences in quality of vascular access care are unknown. We used patient-level data (6/05-5/06) from Medicare claims (n = 25,912) to compare the proportions of AVF among incident patients at VAMC-affiliated (n = 20) and unaffiliated dialysis (n = 1631) facilities.

Treatment center and geographic variability in pre-ESRD care associate with increased mortality.

Late referral of patients with chronic kidney disease is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, but the contribution of center-to-center and geographic variability of pre-ESRD nephrology care to mortality of patients with ESRD is unknown. We evaluated the pre-ESRD care of > 30,000 incident hemodialysis patients, 5088 (17.8%) of whom died during follow-up (median 365 d).