Advisor(s)
Matthew Might
Committee Member(s)
Amit Gaggar
Brittany Lasseigne
Forest Huls
John Osborne
Sonya Heath
William Byrd
School
Joint Health Sciences (Interdisciplinary)
Document Type
Dissertation
Department (new version)
Genetics
Date of Award
9-9-2024
Abstract
Infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative pathogen of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), resulted in an unprecedented loss of life over the past 4 years and has left an indelible mark on nearly every facet of medical care. Unlike pandemics of the 20th century or earlier, global adoption of electronic medical records (EMR) in the decade prior to the COVID-19 pandemic provided the bedrock for real-time healthcare innovation guided by biomedical informatics research. Mirroring the needs of healthcare providers, early informatics studies focused on identifying biomarkers and risk factors for severe presentations of COVID-19 and their subsequent critical care outcomes. As the pandemic progressed, informatics research diversified in an effort to meet the needs of outpatient providers overwhelmed by the growing number of patients suffering from a vast array of post-COVID symptoms after resolution of SARS-CoV-2 infection (termed ‘Long COVID’). The following dissertation assumes a similar chronological arc of biomedical informatics research. In the first study, we leverage EMR data from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the Ochsner Louisiana Health System (OLHS) to provide evidence that COVID-19 with a subsequent bacterial infection (termed a ‘coinfection’) is a major risk factor intensive care unit (ICU) admission, invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), and in-hospital mortality. Moreover, we identify elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR ≥15) as potential biomarker of COVID 19 bacterial coinfection. In the second single center study conducted at UAB, we assess Long COVID patients with prolonged pulmonary symptoms (cough, dyspnea, or chest discomfort) and provide evidence for a novel form of pulmonary fibrosis (termed ‘pulmonary Long COVID’) defined by chronic diffusion impairment and lung restriction. Lastly, we identify use of invasive mechanical ventilation during primary COVID-19 hospitalization as a principal risk factor for developing pulmonary Long COVID.
ProQuest ID
Recommended Citation
Patton, Michael John, "Biomedical Informatic Analysis of Critical Care Outcomes & Chronic Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection" (2024). All ETDs from UAB. 7571.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/7571
