Analysis of Tongue Color-Associated Features among Patients with PCR-Confirmed COVID-19 Infection in Ukraine

Abstract

State of health could be indirectly evaluated by the analysis of the tongue color and the color of plaque accumulated on it before and during the clinical course of different internal diseases. A clean tongue without plaque is a sign of a healthy person, while some of the somatopathologies are characterized with adjacent tongue manifestations, which either could be pathognomonic or included within the set of general symptoms. Tongue-related features could be used as valuable diagnostic signs for health evaluation purposes under the machine learning processing approach, which includes the implementation of multi-modal algorithms to relate tongue changes (as image biomarkers) with other symptoms and pathological conditions (including coronavirus disease). Nevertheless, tongue features seem to be mostly related to the syndrome rather than the disease itself. Previously it was found that lung diseases, such as tuberculosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease characterized with corresponding tongue manifestations. Globally at the date of 13th of January 2021, there have been more than 90 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported to WHO, including 1,954,336 deaths. In Ukraine, more than 1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 20,214 deaths have been reported to the above-mentioned date. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic situation, ongoing study of the manifestations related to this pathology within the oral cavity, particularly on the tongue, remains as an important practical and scientific objective. The most common oral symptoms among persons who have suffered from a coronavirus infection include punctate hemorrhages in the form of red bumps, candidiasis, ulcers and various other lesions of the tongue and mucous membranes - Chemosensory dysfunctions regarding smell and taste are considered one of the most prevalent screening signs among patients with influenza-like symptomatology, who could potentially be diagnosed as COVID-positive. The nature of the COVID-related taste disorder remains under further investigation since this sign could be conceivably associated with developing hyposalivation, changes in saliva composition and neurological alterations.