Abstract

This study aims to assess the risk of severe forms of COVID-19, based on clinical, laboratory, and imaging markers in patients initially admitted to the ward. This is a retrospective observational study, with data from electronic medical records of inpatients, with laboratory confirmation of COVID-19, between March and September 2020, in a hospital from Juiz de Fora-MG, Brazil. Participants (n = 74) were separated into two groups by clinical evolution: those who remained in the ward and those who progressed to the ICU. Mann–Whitney U test was taken for continuous variables and the chi-square test or Fisher's exact test for categorical variables. Comparing the proposed groups, lower values of lymphocytes (p = <0.001) and increases in serum creatinine (p = 0.009), LDH (p = 0.057), troponin (p = 0.018), IL-6 (p = 0.053), complement C4 (p = 0.040), and CRP (p = 0.053) showed significant differences or statistical tendency for clinical deterioration. The average age of the groups was 47.9 ± 16.5 and 66.5 ± 7.3 years (p = 0.001). Hypertension (p = 0.064), heart disease (p = 0.048), and COPD (p = 0.039) were more linked to ICU admission, as well as the presence of tachypnea on admission (p = 0.051). Ground-glass involvement >25% of the lung parenchyma or pleural effusion on chest CT showed association with evolution to ICU (p = 0.027), as well as bilateral opacifications (p = 0.030) when compared to unilateral ones. Laboratory, clinical, and imaging markers may have significant relation with worse outcomes and the need for intensive treatment, being helpful as predictive factors.

Highlights

  • First detected in December 2019, COVID-19 caused by the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has been considered a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) [1]

  • Up to the Epidemiological Week Bulletin 38, of September 2020, more than 730,000 cases of ARDS hospitalized in Brazil were reported, 53.2% by COVID-19, with a lethality rate of 34.4% [8]. ese data corroborate to emphasize the importance of establishing clinical, laboratory, and imaging predictors for a worse prognosis in order to assist in the early recognition of patients at risk

  • Us, the present study aims to assess the risk of severe forms of COVID-19, based on clinical signs, laboratory tests, and computed tomography of patients who were initially in the hospitalization unit

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Summary

Research Article

Received 27 December 2020; Revised 19 May 2021; Accepted 12 June 2021; Published 29 June 2021

Introduction
Methods
Place of hospitalization
Findings
Prothrombin time

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