COVID-19 in the RCP journals

Visit the RCP journals to access the latest articles relating to COVID-19, including original research, concise reviews with the latest tools and advice to improve your practice, reports on innovative ways to deliver care, clinical case studies, and analysis of the most urgent issues facing clinicians and leaders.

Click the links to individual articles below (with key articles selected by the editors highlighted at the top), or visit www.rcpjournals.org/covid-19 for additional content as soon as it is published. Don’t forget to follow the journals on Twitter (@Clin_Med and @FutureHealthJ) to keep up to date with the latest discussion.

If you have COVID-19 content you would like to submit for rapid peer review, please see the author guidance for Clinical Medicine and the Future Healthcare Journal.

Key articles: Presentation

• COVID-19 patients presenting with afebrile acute abdominal pain
• Guillain–Barré syndrome associated with leptomeningeal enhancement following SARS-CoV-2 infection

Key articles: Management

• Respiratory advice for the non-respiratory physician in the time of COVID-19
• Inhaled and systemic heparin as a repurposed direct antiviral drug for prevention and treatment of COVID-19 
• Antiviral treatment for COVID-19: the evidence supporting remdesivir    
• Prone positioning in conscious patients on medical wards: A review of the evidence and its relevance to patients with COVID-19 infection  
• Lessons of the month 1: A case of rhombencephalitis as a rare complication of acute COVID-19 infection 
• Rehabilitation after COVID-19: an evidence-based approach

Key articles: service delivery

• Care of the dying person before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: A quality improvement project
• Nosocomial spread of COVID-19: lessons learned from an audit on a stroke/neurology ward in a UK district general hospital  
• Restarting gastrointestinal endoscopy in the deceleration and early recovery phases of COVID-19 pandemic: Guidance from the British Society of Gastroenterology      
• Reducing nosocomial transmission of COVID-19: implementation of a COVID-19 triage system
• Exposure of hospital healthcare workers to the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) 
• Remodelling of specialist services enables safe reduction in hospital admissions of patients with sickle cell disease: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic          

Key articles: healthcare worker wellbeing

• Sacrifice and risk in the time of COVID-19
• Improving wellbeing among UK doctors redeployed during the COVID-19 pandemic

Recent articles

• Post-COVID symptoms reported at asynchronous virtual review and stratified follow-up after COVID-19 pneumonia
• A comparison of emergency department presentations for medically unexplained symptoms in frequent attenders during COVID-19
• ‘Face time’ for the first time: Video communication between relatives and junior doctors in the COVID-19 pandemic
• Image of the month: Diagnostic and therapeutic challenges in the management of ectopic ACTH syndrome: a perfect storm of hypercortisolism, hyperglycaemia and COVID-19
• An evaluation of advance care planning during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective review of patient involvement in decision making using routinely collected data from digital ReSPECT records
• Implementing a novel protocol for withdrawal of CPAP support in COVID-19 patients: a case series
• Digitally enhanced recovery from severe COVID-19: a new frontier?
• Boundary work during COVID-19: The transformation of research review and set-up
• The new UK SARS-CoV-2 variant and lockdown – causes and consequences
• Fluid-repellent surgical mask (FRSM) fit – one size does not fit all
• The utility of a local multidisciplinary working group to oversee the establishment of rapidly evolving standards of care and to support trial recruitment during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Lockdown Britain: Evidence for reduced incidence and severity of some non-COVID acute medical illnesses
• A specialised cardiorespiratory team approach in the intensive care management of COVID-19 patients: benefit on mortality, diagnosis and management
• Lesson of the month: Severe leukoencephalopathy by SARS-CoV-2
• SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence in NHS healthcare workers in a large double-sited UK hospital
• COVID-19: The disease of loneliness and solitary demise
• What do people hospitalised with COVID-19 think about their care? Results of a satisfaction survey during the first wave of COVID-19 in Liverpool
• The rapid development and deployment of a new multidisciplinary CPAP service outside of a critical care environment during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic
• PPE-associated dermatoses: effect on work and wellbeing
• Perspective: Vitamin D supplementation prevents rickets and acute respiratory infections when given as daily maintenance but not as intermittent bolus: implications for COVID-19
• Towards a standardised method of patient prioritisation that accounts for clinical harm
• National Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2) to identify inpatient COVID-19 deterioration: a retrospective analysis
• The effects of COVID-19 on sickness of medical staff across departments: A single centre experience
• Contact tracing for SARS-CoV-2: what can be learned from other conditions?
• Admission COVID-19 clinical risk assessment for guiding patient placement and diagnostic testing strategy
• The UK physician workforce: one-third at increased risk of death from COVID-19
• The safety of anaesthetists and intensivists during the first COVID-19 surge supports extension of use of airborne protection PPE to ward staff
• Teleophthalmology and COVID-19: the patient perspective
• The value of healthcare worker support strategies to enhance wellbeing and optimise patient care
• COVID-19 emergency department discharges: an outcome study
• The impact of COVID-19 shielding on the wellbeing, mental health and treatment adherence of adults with cystic fibrosis
• ‘You've got mail!’: Clinical and practical skills teaching re-imagined during COVID-19
• COVID-19: Causes of anxiety and wellbeing support needs of healthcare professionals in the UK: A cross-sectional survey
• Prevalence and socio-demographic factors of SARS-CoV-2 antibody in multi-ethnic healthcare workers
• Review of hygiene adaptations among UK doctors in controlling the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection
• Home quarantine in COVID-19: A study on 50 consecutive patients in Austria
• The prognostic value of chest X-ray in patients with COVID-19 on admission and when starting CPAP
• Teleclinics in rheumatology introduced during the first lockdown phase of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020
• Ethical principles and a practical approach to support policy making through the next phases of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond
• Implementation and evaluation of a COVID-19 rapid follow-up service for patients discharged from the emergency department
• Use of procalcitonin for antibiotic stewardship in patients with COVID-19: A quality improvement project in a district general hospital
• Effectiveness of early treatment of lopinavir–ritonavir in patients with severe COVID-19: a case series
• Mental-health-related admissions to the acute medical unit during COVID-19
• A case of COVID-19 reinfection in the UK
• Experiences of a new training programme for final-year medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Tracking cancer patients during COVID-19 using structured outcomes and keywords
• Autonomic dysfunction in ‘long COVID’: rationale, physiology and management strategies
• Respiratory outpatient clinics during and post COVID-19: the use of patient satisfaction and preference data to redesign service delivery
• The impact of false positive COVID-19 results in an area of low prevalence
• COVID-19 Rapid transformation of the medical on-call rotas to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic: a case study
• Requests from primary care for chest X-ray and CA125 measurements during the COVID-19 emergency: An observational study
• Long-term sequelae following previous coronavirus epidemics
• Rationale for the use of sphingosine analogues in COVID-19 patients
• Are telephone consultations the future of the NHS? The outcomes and experiences of an NHS urological service in moving to telemedicine
• Chief registrars: Leading in a time of COVID-19
• C-reactive protein and albumin association with mortality of hospitalised SARS-CoV-2 patients: A tertiary hospital experience
• How COVID-19 has changed the unselected medical take: an observational study
• Restarting training and examinations in the era of COVID-19: a perspective from the Federation of Royal Colleges of Physicians UK
• Virtual visiting and other technological adaptations for critical care
• Establishing a remote clinical advice service during the COVID-19 pandemic
• The clinical sensitivity of a single SARS-CoV-2 upper respiratory tract RT-PCR test for diagnosing COVID-19 using convalescent antibody as a comparator
• Evaluation of a patient self-stratification methodology to identify those in need of shielding during COVID-19
• Coronavirus in the elderly: a late lockdown UK cohort
• Respiratory specialists working in different ways: Development of a GP hotline and respiratory support service during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Inhaled and systemic heparin as a repurposed direct antiviral drug for prevention and treatment of COVID-19
• Collaborative working on a 7-day rota reduces length of stay
• Patient perspectives on social-media-delivered telemedicine for inflammatory bowel disease
• Dying ‘due to’ or ‘with’ COVID-19: a cause of death analysis in hospitalised patients
• React, reset and restore: Adaptation of a large inflammatory bowel disease service during COVID-19 pandemic
• Predictive model of increased mortality and bed occupancy if thrombolysis becomes the initial treatment strategy for STEMI during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic
• Managing high-acuity outpatient services during the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons from the acute diabetes foot service
• COVID-19 pandemic personal development plan: A model for maximising higher specialty training
• Communication in the time of COVID
• Refusal of viral testing during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic
• Characteristics and outcomes of patients with COVID-19 at a district general hospital in Surrey, UK
• Keep calm and carry on learning: using Microsoft Teams to deliver a medical education programme during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Experience of a novel community testing programme for COVID-19 in London: Lessons learnt
• Complete blood count might help to identify subjects with high probability of testing positive to SARS-CoV-2
• Should chest compressions be considered an aerosol-generating procedure? A literature review in response to recent guidelines on personal protective equipment for patients with suspected COVID-19
• Potential role of endothelial cell surface ectopic redox complexes in COVID-19 disease pathogenesis
• Recorded infection control messages delay inter-professional communication but are not associated with COVID-19 prevalence or mortality: insights from a national switchboard analysis
• Remodelling elective hospital services in the COVID-19 era – designing the new normal
• Von Willebrand factor (vWF): marker of endothelial damage and thrombotic risk in COVID-19?
• Should point-of-care ultrasound become part of healthcare worker testing for COVID?
• Peer support for junior doctors: a positive outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic?
• The potential impacts of obesity on COVID-19
• Rostering in a pandemic: Sustainability is key
• Epilepsy care in the COVID-19 era
• Does vitamin D deficiency increase the severity of COVID-19?
• Abrupt deterioration and pulmonary embolism in COVID-19: a case report
• The contributions of NHS healthcare workers who are shielding or working from home during COVID-19
• Harnessing the power of social media to support medical training during COVID-19
• SARS-CoV-2 serology: Test, test, test, but interpret with caution!
• COVID-19 recognition and digital risk stratification
• Utilising video technology in the cardiac catheter lab and operating theatre during the COVID-19 pandemic
• The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on renal transplantation in the UK
• Use of an antiviral filter attached to a pleural drain bottle to prevent aerosol contamination with SARS-CoV-2
• Cross-skilling training to support medical redeployment in the COVID-19 pandemic
• COVID-19-associated pneumomediastinum
• COVID-19 and diabetes: What have we learned so far?
• The I in COVID: The importance of community and patient involvement in COVID-19 research
• Low-fidelity simulation of medical emergency and cardiac arrest responses in a suspected COVID-19 patient – an interim report
• Thrombotic risk in COVID-19: a case series and case–control study
• Low-fidelity simulation of medical emergency and cardiac arrest responses in a suspected COVID-19 patient – an interim report
• The renin–angiotensin system – a therapeutic target in COVID-19?
• Radiology department preparedness for COVID-19 – experience of a central-London hospital
• Innovative use of artificial intelligence and digital communication in acute stroke pathway in response to COVID-19
• Lung ultrasound in the monitoring of COVID-19 infection
• Identifying rheumatic disease patients at high risk and requiring shielding during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Drive-through testing in COVID-19: experience from NHS Lothian
• Early intervention likely improves mortality in COVID-19 infection
• Evaluating the national PPE guidance for NHS healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic
• SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the cardiovascular system: What the non-cardiologist needs to know
• UK neurology response to the COVID-19 crisis
• Working from home in medicine during coronavirus: What equipment do you need to get started and what can you do to help from home?
• Palliative care in the context of a pandemic: similar but different
• A comprehensive hospital agile preparedness (CHAPs) tool for pandemic preparedness, based on the COVID-19 experience
• Nutritional status and COVID-19: an opportunity for lasting change?
• COVID-19 – does exercise prescription and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) have a role in risk-stratifying patients?
• Chloroquine and COVID-19 – a potential game changer?
• The role of the future physician: building on shifting sands
• Consolidating malignant pleural and peritoneal services during the COVID-19 response
• What we know so far: COVID-19 current clinical knowledge and research