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    KEY FINDINGSAsymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 may occur.• Manifestations of COVID-19 are highly varied and may include asymptomatic cases, who do not manifest with anysigns and symptoms despite testing positive for COVID-19 by viral nucleic acid tests. Pre-symptomatic cases areinfected individuals who are still in their incubation period, hence do not exhibit any symptoms yet but eventuallydevelop symptoms.• As of June 2020, only 586 (2.8%) of the 20,990 active cases in the Philippines were classified as asymptomatic,but it is unclear whether cases are pre-symptomatic or carriers (true asymptomatic).• Based on 36 observational studies (case reports, case series, cross-sectional and cohort studies) and 9 statisticalmodeling analysis, asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 may occur. However, 3studies reported no transmission from pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic cases.• Studies on viral load comparing symptomatic cases with pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic cases reportedcontradicting results. The duration of viral shedding was significantly longer for symptomatic patients comparedto asymptomatic patients but similar for asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic patients.• Therewas no difference in the transmission rates of symptomatic and asymptomatic cases. However,the estimatedinfectivity and probability of transmission was higherfor symptomatic cases compared to asymptomatic cases, butresults were imprecise due to a wide confidence interval.• The World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognize thepossibility of pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic transmission. According to WHO, current evidence suggestsasymptomatic cases are less likely to transmit the virus than symptomatic cases.
    Asymptomatic carrier
    Viral Shedding
    Citations (0)
    Abstract We aim to systematically review the characteristics of asymptomatic infection in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). PubMed and EMBASE were electronically searched to identify original studies containing the rate of asymptomatic infection in COVID‐19 patients before 20 May 2020. Then mate‐analysis was conducted using R version 3.6.2. A total of 50 155 patients from 41 studies with confirmed COVID‐19 were included. The pooled percentage of asymptomatic infection is 15.6% (95% CI, 10.1%‐23.0%). Ten included studies contain the number of presymptomatic patients, who were asymptomatic at screening point and developed symptoms during follow‐up. The pooled percentage of presymptomatic infection among 180 initially asymptomatic patients is 48.9% (95% CI, 31.6%‐66.2%). The pooled proportion of asymptomatic infection among 1152 COVID‐19 children from 11 studies is 27.7% (95% CI, 16.4%‐42.7%), which is much higher than patients from all aged groups. Abnormal CT features are common in asymptomatic COVID‐19 infection. For 36 patients from 4 studies that CT results were available, 15 (41.7%) patients had bilateral involvement and 14 (38.9%) had unilateral involvement in CT results. Reduced white blood cell count, increased lactate dehydrogenase, and increased C‐reactive protein were also recorded. About 15.6% of confirmed COVID‐19 patients are asymptomatic. Nearly half of the patients with no symptoms at detection time will develop symptoms later. Children are likely to have a higher proportion of asymptomatic infection than adults. Asymptomatic COVID‐19 patients could have abnormal laboratory and radiational manifestations, which can be used as screening strategies to identify asymptomatic infection.
    Citations (409)
    To investigate the prevalence of asymptomatic hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism in hospitalized people, we performed thyroid function tests on a group of 2545 elderly patients consecutively observed in a General Hospital in Rome, during a six year period. The rate of asymptomatic hypothyroidism was as high as 0.71% in female patients and only 0.20% in male patients. In asymptomatic hyperthyroid subjects the prevalence rate was 0.58% in females and 0.20% in males. On the whole, prevalence rate of asymptomatic thyropathies resulted 0.94%, showing a clear difference in sex (women 1.29% and men 0.40%). The asymptomatic thyropathies screening of hospitalized elderly women may result in a very low cost diagnosis of many new cases of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism.
    Citations (4)
    Introduction. Our objective was to review articles that report the prevalence of cervical disc herniations in asymptomatic subjects using MRIs and conduct a qualitative systematic review.Methods. A MEDLINE search for articles published between 1974 and 2004 was performed, and five articles were retained in this review.Results. Teresi et al. (1987) studied 35 asymptomatic subjects retrospectively and 65 asymptomatic subjects prospectively, and found 20% of subjects aged 45–54 years, 35% of subjects aged 55–64 years, and 57% of subjects older than 64 years had cervical disc herniations/bulges. Boden et al. (1990) studied 63 asymptomatic subjects and found 10% of subjects of less than 40 years and 5% of subjects older than 40 years had disc herniations. Lehto et al. (1994) studied 89 asymptomatic subjects and found that each of 2 subjects (one 29 and the other 56 years) had a disc prolapse; the prevalence was 2.2%. Matsumoto et al. (1998) studied 497 asymptomatic subjects. They found that 70 of 2480 discs scanned were prolapsed posteriorly (2.8%), and reported that the frequency of these lesions increased after 40 years. Siivola et al. (2002) compared 15 asymptomatic and 16 symptomatic subjects after 7 years and found no disc herniations (0%) in the asymptomatic group and 4 disc herniations (25%) in the symptomatic group.Conclusions. The prevalence of cervical disc herniations in asymptomatic subjects of less than 40 years of age is 3% to 10% and increases to 20% in subjects up to 54 years of age. The prevalence increases with age—from 5% to 35% in subjects between 40 and 64 years of age.
    Intervertebral Disc
    Disc protrusion
    Intervertebral disk
    Degenerative Disc Disease
    Citations (1)
    Introduction: There is no specific recommendation for the management of asymptomatic vaginal mesh erosions post antiincontinence or prolapse surgery, but revision or excision may represent overtreatment. We hypothesize that asymptomatic vaginal exposures remain asymptomatic during follow-up and do not require any intervention. Methods: We evaluated a “no treatment” approach by prospectively following-up women with asymptomatic vaginal exposures after antiincontinence and pelvic organ prolapse surgery. After a 1-month course of vaginal oestrogen, they underwent the “wait and see” protocol. It consisted of no treatment. Women were followed-up every 3 months, for the first year and then every 6 months with history, clinical examination with measurement of size of the exposure, and the evaluation of possible infection signs or vaginal discharge. Results: Forty women were followed-up for a median of 33.52 months (range 8–48 months). All exposures were ≤1 cm (mean 6.5 ± 1.5 mm, range 4–10 mm), patients were asymptomatic and without pain. During the observation period, the size of the exposure did not change and all women remained asymptomatic. Discussion/Conclusion: No treatment seems to be required for asymptomatic and small vaginal mesh exposures after prolapse or incontinence surgery.
    Vaginal discharge
    Citations (10)
    Introduction: The prevalence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) ranges between 4.5% and 57% and is independently associated with cardiovascular disease burden irrespective of symptoms. Two thirds of cases are thought to be asymptomatic and may go unrecognised. Local prevalence and natural progression of asymptomatic PAD is unknown.Methods: This one year, non-interventional longitudinal study, aimed to determine prevalence and progression of asymptomatic PAD in patients with cardiovascular risk factors. Results: Of 217 patients screened, 36% had asymptomatic disease in 113 legs. Of sixty two who returned for follow-up, eight normal legs developed asymptomatic PAD, and 46%, asymptomatic at baseline showed disease progression. Initial baseline ABI showed significant change over 1 year of follow-up (p=0.001) and 21% (13) of patients eventually developed intermittent claudication. Also, 52% of baseline asymptomatic participants having at least one associated cardiovascular risk factor showed disease progression over 1 year. Those developing claudication demonstrated significant ABI deterioration. Having two or more cardiovascular risk factors significantly affected progression of asymptomatic disease, (p = 0.031). Conclusion: Study confirms high prevalence of asymptomatic PAD in our population and significant disease progression in one year.Key words: Peripheral Artery Disease, Risk Factors, Asymptomatic, Disease Progression
    Claudication
    Intermittent claudication
    Citations (1)
    Retrospective review of the Southeastern Vascular Study Group between January 2011 and December 2018 Of 8303 carotid endarterectomies (CEAs) and 1876 carotid artery stenting (CAS) procedures, slightly more than half of patients were asymptomatic in each group. Symptomatic patients had significantly higher rates of in-hospital neurologic events, myocardial infarction, and death after CEA and of neurologic events after CAS than asymptomatic patients. There was no difference in mortality among symptomatic and asymptomatic male and female patients at 3 years after CEA, but asymptomatic men had significantly higher 3-year mortality than women after CAS. Long-term mortality risk in asymptomatic men should be considered before offering CAS.
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    To define characteristics of pediatric asymptomatic idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH).We retrospectively reviewed our Neuro-Ophthalmology database (2000-2006) for all cases of symptomatic and asymptomatic pediatric IIH.Out of 45 IIH cases, 14 (31.1%) were asymptomatic (incidental examination). When compared with children with symptomatic IIH, asymptomatic cases were younger [5.6 (1.8-15) vs 11.0 (5-17) years, P = 0.007], had lower percentage of obesity (14.3% vs 48.4%, P = 0.046), and had male predominance (71.4% vs 38.7%, P = 0.06). Asymptomatic cases required shorter duration of acetazolamide treatment [3 (0-8), vs 6 (0-20) months, P = 0.021], and resulted in complete resolution of swollen discs.We speculate that asymptomatic IIH may be more common in young children and could represent a milder form or a presymptomatic phase before evolving into classic symptomatic IIH. Further studies to assess the clinical significance of asymptomatic IIH are warranted.
    Acetazolamide