Comparison of Laboratory Parameters in Patients with COVID-19

Abstract

Background: The novel coronavirus strain disease that started in December 2019, in Wuhan, China became a pandemic and life-threatening disease worldwide. Despite COVID-19 vaccination in some parts of the world, social distances, lockdown, and more policies the disease is rising, the disease would continue for some while, especially in poor and developing countries. To extend our knowledge about severely and critically ill patients with COVID-19, we compared laboratory values about these patients with the control group.Methods: In this single-center, observational study, we enrolled 143 participants that 103 patients who were severely or critically ill patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia who admitted to Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex (Tehran, Iran) and included 40 healthy individuals as the control group. Data were analyzed for demographic data, laboratory values, and clinical outcomes. Data were also compared between survivors and non-survivors.Findings: Of 143 participants, we enrolled 54 patients in the severe group and 49 patients in the critical group. The average age of the cases was 53.5 years. 52.4% were men, non-survivors were older than survivors (55 years vs 53.2). Prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, the international normalized ratio, and D-dimer were significant in the critical group and the severe group compared to the control group. The blood cell parameters (include WBC, RBC, Hb, HCT, neutrophils, lymphocytes) were significant in the critical and severe groups compared to the control group. Renal function tests (BUN, Cr) and liver function tests (ALT, AST, ALK) were significant in the patient groups compared with the control group. Inflammatory indicator tests like erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were higher in the patient groups compared to the control group. Significant elevation of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels in the patient groups in comparison to the control group showed that tissues damaged deeply in the patient groups. We also carried out a comparison between survivors and non-survivors and revealed that PT, PTT, D-dimer, ESR, FBS, urea, creatinine, LDH, lymphocyte, and neutrophil count were significant. Findings showed coagulopathy and organ failure are the main reason for the mortality of patients.Interpretation: Rapid blood tests, including prothrombin time, D-dimer, FBS, urea, creatinine, LDH, neutrophil, and lymphocyte counts can help clinicians like biomarkers to assess severity, organ failure, and prognosis of patients with COVID-19. Nevertheless, more investigations are needed to find the applicability of biomarkers in predicting the risk of severity and mortality in 2019-nCoV infection.Funding Statement: This study was funded and supported by Tehran university of medical sciences (TUMS); Grant no.47635Declaration of Interests: We declare no competing interests.Ethics Approval Statement: This study was approved by the Iran National Committee for Ethics in Biomedical Research (IR.TUMS.VCR.REC.1399.260) was done in Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex (Tehran, Iran).