Laboratory Findings from 100 Patients with COVID-19 Pneumonia in Madinah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is spreading rapidly. The purpose of this study is to explore high risk patients and guiding future management and summarize the results of routine laboratory testing of asymptomatic, mild to moderate, severe and critical COVID-19 in order to define practical indicators for the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19. A total of 100 confirmed COVID-19 patients from Madinah city, Saudi Arabia, hospitalized between March to June, 2020 were included, and categorized into asymptomatic, mild to moderate, severe and critically ill patients. Fasting blood samples were withdrawn from all patients for estimation of complete blood count, coagulation profile, biochemistry and serology. Patients were grouped on the basis of the interval between symptom onset: group 1 (asymptomatic), group 2 (mild to moderate), group 3 (severe), and group 4 (critical). Laboratory features and their distribution were analysed and compared across the four groups. Combining assessment of clinical and laboratory findings could facilitate early diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia. Median age was 51 years old and 85% of the patients were men. Overall, all patients were admitted to hospitals and 42% required ICU treatment. The majority of patients (29%) were diagnosed with mild to moderate disease, 28% of patients were critical, 26% of patients were severe and 17% of patients were asymptomatic. The comparison COVID-19 patients’ four parameters, using Kusakal-Wallis test, showed a significant difference in the levels of lymphocytes, ESR, PT, INR, d-dimer, CK, BUN and ferritin (P <0.05). C-reactive protein greater than 2.97 (0.84-9.18; p<0.0001). The potential risk factors of older age, lymphopenia, d-dimer greater than 1µg/mL and ferritin greater than 500ng/mL could help physicians to identify patients with a poor prognosis at an early stage.