Open AccessRetrospective analysis of COVID-19 patients in the region of Eastern Achaia, Greece, in a Primary and Secondary Healthcare Setting. Could initial laboratory findings and age prejudge patients’ outcome?
Author(s) -
Panagiota Xaplanteri,
Vasileios Zoitopoulos,
Vasiliki Diamanti,
Athanasia Moutafidi,
Panagiota Masoura,
Charalampos Potsios,
Konstantina Filioti,
Angeliki Rapanou,
Christina-Panagiota Koutsouri,
Zoi Grammenidou,
Aimilios Tzoudas,
Chara Sakarelou,
Tatiana Rokaj,
Kateritzinia,
Elsa Martinez,
Georgios Papachristopoulos,
Constantinos Letsas
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
medical research archives
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2375-1924
pISSN - 2375-1916
DOI - 10.18103/mra.v10i3.2724
Subject(s) - medicine , covid-19 , creatinine , retrospective cohort study , ferritin , pediatrics , gastroenterology , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Since December 2019 mankind is agonized over the deadly coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) which is due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (Sars-cov-2). Methods: In this retrospective study, laboratory findings and demographic features form all confirmed COVID-19 patients who attended the Emergency Department of both branches of our hospital during the first semester of 2021 were collected and analyzed. The working hypothesis was that initial laboratory data at the time the patients seeked medical assistant for the first time, regardless of comorbidities and day of onset of symptoms, can help predict patients’ outcome. Demographic data and laboratory tests were compared between hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients. Results: Data of 270 patients were collected and analyzed retrospectively. 31 blood measurement parameters performed in both hospital branches were compared between hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients. Of those, WBC count (p=0.016), neutrophil percentage (p<0.001), lymphocyte percentage (p<0.001), platelet count (p=0.041), glucose (p<0.001), urea (p<0.001), creatinine (p<0.001), SGOT (p=0.024), CK (p<0.053), LDH (p<0.001), GGT (p<0.001), sodium (p<0.001), calcium (p<0.001), high sensitivity Troponin I (p<0.001), and ferritin levels (p<0.001), proved statistically significant. Regarding demographic data, age was significantly linked to patients’ survival. Conclusion: Our data suggest that common initial laboratory findings of COVID-19 patients who seek for the first-time medical assistant regardless of comorbidities and time from onset of symptoms can give clues to the patient outcome. Age is also important for patients’ survival. Especially in a Primary Health Care Setting, common blood parameters like WBC count, neutrophil and lymphocyte percentage, platelet count, glucose, urea, creatinine, SGOT, CK, LDH, GGT, sodium, calcium, high sensitivity Troponin I, and ferritin levels, could be really helpful to predict disease severity.