ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is an important cause of mortality and morbidity among geriatric patients. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the shock index and other scoring systems are effective predictors of mortality and prognosis among geriatric patients presenting to the emergency department with complaints of upper GI bleeding. DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective cohort study in an emergency department in Bursa, Turkey. METHODS: Patients over 65 years admitted to a single-center, tertiary emergency service between May 8, 2019, and April 30, 2020, and diagnosed with upper GI bleeding were analyzed. 30, 180 and 360-day mortality prediction performances of the shock index and the Rockall, Glasgow-Blatchford and AIMS-65 scores were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 111 patients who met the criteria were included in the study. The shock index (P < 0.001) and AIMS-65 score (P < 0.05) of the patients who died within the 30-day period were found to be significantly different, while the shock index (P < 0.001), Rockall score (P < 0.001) and AIMS-65 score (P < 0.05) of patients who died within the 180-day and 360-day periods were statistically different. In the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis for predicting 360-day mortality, the area under the curve (AUC) value was found to be 0.988 (95% confidence interval, CI, 0.971-1.000; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The shock index measured among geriatric patients with upper GI bleeding at admission seems to be a more effective predictor of prognosis than other scoring systems.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the presentation characteristics and disease course of seven patients with COVID-19 who spontaneously developed pneumomediastinum without a history of mechanical ventilation. METHODS: A total of seven non-intubated patients with COVID-19, of age ranging from 18-67 years, who developed spontaneous pneumomediastinum between 01 April and 01 October 2020 were included in the study. Patients' demographic data, clinical variables, and laboratory values were examined. Spontaneous pneumomediastinum was evaluated using posteroanterior chest radiography and thorax computed tomography. RESULTS: During the research period, 38,492 patients reported to the emergency department of our hospital with COVID-19 symptoms. Of these, spontaneous pneumomediastinum was detected in seven patients who had no previous history of intubation. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (2/7) and asthma bronchiale (2/7) were determined as the most common causes of comorbidity. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, the frequency of spontaneous pneumomediastinum developing without pneumothorax was found to be high in non-intubated patients. Whether this is related to the nature of the disease or it is a result of the increase in cases diagnosed incidentally owing to the increasing use of low-dose computed tomography should be explored in further studies.