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. 2022 Feb:74:103234.
doi: 10.1016/j.amsu.2021.103234. Epub 2022 Jan 11.

A cross-sectional study of gastrointestinal manifestations in COVID-19 Egyptian patients

Ahmed Abozaid Ahmed Teima  1 , Amany Abas Amer  1 , Lamiaa I Mohammed  2 , Zeinab A Kasemy  3 , Samar Ha Aloshari  4 , Mohamed Meligy Ahmed  5 , Ahmed Abuamer  5 , Ahmed Shaban  5 , Hassan Ahmed Elzohry  5 , Sayed F Abdelwahab  6 , Heba Mohamed Abdallah  7 , Sabry Moawad Abdelmageed  8 , Mohamed A Sakr  9 , Mohamed Abdel-Samiee  5
Affiliations

A cross-sectional study of gastrointestinal manifestations in COVID-19 Egyptian patients

Ahmed Abozaid Ahmed Teima et al. Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2022 Feb.

Abstract

Background: The latest novel corona virus disease (COVID-19) pandemic shows a significant health concern. We aimed to study the prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms among COVID-19 Egyptian patients.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out on 860 patients with COVID-19 infection classified according to Ministry of Health Program (MOHP) into three groups (280 patients with mild infection, 258 patients with moderate disease and 322 patients with severe disease). All patients were subjected to medical history, clinical examination, laboratory investigations, high-resolution computed tomography chest (HRCT chest) and other investigations when needed in some patients e.g., upper gastro-intestinal (GI) endoscopy, abdomino-pelvic ultrasound and ECHO.

Results: Gastro-intestinal symptoms were present in 27.2% of the studied patients. The most common reported GIT symptoms were vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal/gastric pain, followed by nausea. GIT symptoms presence was significantly higher in severe cases in comparison to mild or moderate cases. C-reactive protein (CRP), serum ferritin, Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), bilirubin, and creatinine were significantly associated with the presence of GI symptoms.

Conclusions: GI symptoms are prevalent among COVID-19 patients, the most common were vomiting and diarrhea and were associated with COVID-19 severity.

Keywords: ACE2, angiotensin convertory enzyme 2; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, Aspartate aminotransferase; CO-RAD, COVID-19 Reporting and Data System; COVID-19; COVID-19, Corona virus disease; CRP, C-reactive protein; Fecal-oral viral transmission; GI, Gastrointestinal; GIT manifestations in COVID-19; HRCT chest, high-resolution computed tomography chest; IL, interleukin; LDH, Lactate Dehydrogenase; MOHP, Ministry of Health Program; PCR, Polymearase chain reaction; Pandemic; TNF, tumor necrosis factor.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of the studied participants regarding COVID-19 severity and GIT symptoms.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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