The Usefulness of the CHEST Score in Predicting the Clinical Outcomes of COVID-19 in COPD and Non-COPD Cohorts.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) infected with SARS-CoV-2 indicate a higher risk of severe COVID-19 course, which is defined as the need for hospitalization in the intensive care unit, mechanical ventilation, or death. However, simple tools to stratify the risk in patients with COPD suffering from COVID-19 are lacking. The current study aimed to evaluate the predictive value of the CHEST score in patients with COPD. A retrospective analysis of medical records from 2184 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 at the University Hospital in Wroclaw from February 2020 to June 2021, which was previously used in earlier studies, assessed outcomes such as mortality during hospitalization, all-cause mortality at 3 and 6 months, non-fatal discharge, as well as adverse clinical incidents. This re-analysis specifically examines the outcomes using a COPD split. In the COPD group, 42 deaths were recorded, including 18 in-hospital deaths. In-hospital mortality rates at 3 and 6 months did not significantly differ among CHEST strata, nor did their impact on subsequent treatment. However, a notable association between the CHEST score and prognosis was observed in the non-COPD cohort comprising 2109 patients. The CHEST score's predictive ability is notably lower in COPD patients compared to non-COPD subjects, with COPD itself indicating a high mortality risk. However, CHEST effectively identifies patients at high risk of cardiac complications during COVID-19, especially in non-COPD cases.