While the number of coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19) cases is increasing day by day, there is limited information known about the hematological and laboratory findings of the disease. We aimed to investigate whether serum ferritin level predicts mortality is a marker for rapid progression for inpatients. Our study included 56 patients who were died due to COVID‐19 as the study group, and 245 patients who were hospitalized and recovered as the control group. The laboratory data of the patients were evaluated from the first blood tests (pre) taken from the first moment of admission to the hospital and the blood tests taken from before the patient's discharge or exitus (post) were evaluated retrospectively. The mean age of the nonsurvivor group was 62.0 ± 15.7 and the mean age of the control group was 54.34 ± 13.03. Age and length of stay are significantly higher in the nonsurvivor group. When comparing the pre‐ and postvalues of ferritin, according to the two groups separately, there was no significant difference in the control group and a high level of significance was observed in the nonsurvivor group (p < .01). COVID‐19 disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐2 causes high mortality with widespread inflammation and cytokine storm. Ferritin is a cheap and widespread available marker, ferritin, which can be used for its predictivity of the mortality and hope it would be a useful marker for clinicians for the management of the disease.

Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is a newly recognized risk marker for various diseases. We evaluated the value of RDW in predicting the severity of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). From retrospective analyses of 526 patients admitted to our sleep laboratory for polysomnography between January 2010 and July 2011, 108 patients with complete medical records and hemogram analyses were evaluated. The study population consisted of 108 patients (age: 49.16 ± 11.1 [range 16-76] years; 72 [66.7%] males). In the overall population, the mean RDW was 14.04 (± 2.37), and 31 patients (28.7%) had RDW > 15. RDW increased significantly with increased severity of OSAS (p = 0.046) and was positively correlated with the apnea-hypopnea index (p = 0.002, r = 0.300), even in the non-anemic group (p = 0.013, r = 0.291). The apnea-hypopnea index was significantly higher in the group with high RDW (> 15; p = 0.046). RDW was negatively correlated with sleep time (p = 0.028, r = 0.217), average oxygen saturation of hemoglobin (p = 0.003, r = -0.239), and minimum desaturation value (p = 0.016, r = -0.235). In patients referred with a clinical diagnosis of OSAS, RDW may be a marker for the severity of the condition. As RDW is usually included in a complete blood count, it could provide an inexpensive tool for triaging OSAS patients for polysomnography evaluation.

The cardiovascular complications caused by obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) decrease after continuous positive airway pressure treatment (CPAP). Mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), and red cell distribution width (RDW) are newly recognized tools for assessing cardiovascular risk. From a selection of patients with symptoms of nocturnal snoring and/or excessive daytime sleepiness, 36 males with an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) > 30/h and 22 age-matched normal male controls with AHI < 5/h were included. Patients with OSA underwent another night of CPAP titration, and 11 patients were excluded at the 6-month evaluation due to poor compliance with the home CPAP therapy. Complete blood count parameters of compliant patients and the control group were evaluated. Compared to controls, MPV values were significantly higher (p = 0.025) in OSA patients, but no significant differences in PDW or RDW were found (p > 0.05). Six months of CPAP therapy resulted in significantly lower MPV values but increased values of PDW and RDW in patients with severe OSA (p = 0.001, p = 0.007, p = 0.001, respectively). Our data suggest that complete blood count parameters in OSA patients such as MPV, PDW and RDW change significantly after CPAP therapy.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a common disorder that can lead to significant cardiovascular complications. Several studies have reported increased platelet activation and aggregation in patients with OSAS. In this study we aimed to show a correlation between mean platelet volume (MPV) and severity of OSAS in patients with OSAS without any overt cardiac disease or diabetes. The polysomnography recordings of 556 consecutive patients admitted to the sleep laboratory between January 2012 and July 2012 were retrospectively evaluated. The relationship between polysomnographic parameters and biochemical parameters was assessed. Polysomnographic results of 200 patients (154 males [77%]; mean age, 44.5 ± 11.4 years) were included. No correlation was observed between MPV and the average oxygen saturation index, the minimum desaturation index, or the oxygen desaturation index in the study population as well as in severe OSAS group (AHI > 30). The only correlation was found between MPV and AHI in the severe OSAS groupP=0.010. MPV was not correlated with OSAS severity in patients without any overt cardiac disease or diabetes. These findings raise doubts about the suggestion that MPV might be a marker for OSAS severity, as recommended in earlier studies. Thus, further prospective data are needed.

Background. Carcinosarcoma of the lung is a rare malignant neoplasm. We evaluated the diagnosis and treatment of six carcinosarcoma cases, including a synchronous tumour and a solitary pulmonary tumour, along with the clinical and histological features and survival times.Methods. From a retrospective analysis of 1076 non-small-cell lung cancer resections performed between January 1996 and January 2011, six patients (0.5%) with pulmonary carcinosarcoma (all males; mean age 58 years; range 53–66) who underwent surgical treatment were studied.Results. The mean tumour pathological T diameter was 7.2 cm (median 6 cm, range 3–14.5 cm). Only one patient was diagnosed with carcinosarcoma preoperatively. The clinical presentation and tumour localisations differed. The operations performed were a lobectomy (n=4), pneumonectomy (n=1), and bilobectomy (n=1). Histologically, the epithelial characteristics of the tumours were consistent with squamous cell carcinoma in most of the patients. A complete resection was performed in all six patients. No mortality occurred in the early postoperative period. The median survival time was 9 (3–25) months.Conclusion. The preoperative diagnosis of carcinosarcoma of the lung is difficult due to the composition of the different histopathological structures. Complete surgical resection is the treatment of choice for pulmonary carcinosarcoma, although further studies are needed.