Diagnostic and Therapeutic Approaches to Novel COVID-19 in Intensive Care Unit: A Narrative Review

Özet

This study aimed to compile the up-to-date information about the methods and pharmacological agents used in the diagnosis and treatmentof coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and examine the methods used in the treatment of COVID-19 in patients in the intensive care unitby reviewing the treatment guidelines published by national health authorities worldwide. We surveyed the literature published on the novelcoronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome [SARS] coronavirus [SARS-CoV-2]) before April 25, 2020, in PubMed. The results of the studyidentified serological and molecular methods (e.g., real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction) used by physicians for diagnosingCOVID-19 and identified thorax computed tomography along with other imaging methods used for determining the severity of the disease.However, it was concluded that the desired developments for treatment and vaccination have not been achieved till today, and many of the agentsused and studied for the treatment were drugs previously used for the treatment of Middle East respiratory syndrome and SARS. COVID-19 hashigher levels of transmissibility and pandemic risk. The available information revealed that, given the size and scope of the pandemic, to date,there has been no scientifically proven effective medicine and vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. There is also an urgent need for further researchfor finding an effective medicine and vaccine for COVID-19 to prevent the occurrence of an outbreak in future and manage such public healthemergency of this magnitude in both short and long terms.