Hematological findings in COVID-19 and their correlation with severity of Disease

Namra Mahmood; Zahra Riaz; Arooj Sattar; Mehwish Kiran

doi:10.12669/pjms.39.3.6836

Hematological findings in COVID-19 and their correlation with severity of Disease

Pak J Med Sci. 2023 May-Jun;39(3):795-798. doi: 10.12669/pjms.39.3.6836.

Authors

Namra Mahmood¹, Zahra Riaz², Arooj Sattar³, Mehwish Kiran⁴

Affiliations

¹ Namra Mahmood, MBBS, M.Phil. Assistant Professor, Pathology. Central Park Medical College, Lahore - Pakistan.
² Zahra Riaz, MBBS, M.Phil. Senior Demonstrator, Department of Pathology. Central Park Medical College, Lahore - Pakistan.
³ Arooj Sattar, MBBS, M.Phil. Assistant Professor, Pathology. Central Park Medical College, Lahore - Pakistan.
⁴ Mehwish Kiran, Senior Registrar, Pulmonology. Central Park Medical College, Lahore - Pakistan.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of hematological parameters to predict severity of COVID-19 patients.

Method: This was a cross-sectional comparative study conducted at Central Park Teaching Hospital, Lahore in COVID ward and COVID ICU between April 23, 2021 to June 23, 2021. Patients of all ages and both genders with positive PCR admitted in the COVID ward and ICU during this time span of two months were included in the study. Data was collected retrospectively.

Results: This study included 50 patients with male to female ratio of 1.38:1. Though males are more affected by COVID-19 but the difference is not statistically significant. The mean age of the study population was 56.21 and the patients in the severe disease group have higher age. It was observed that in severe/critical group the mean values of total leukocyte count 21.76×10³ μI (p-value= 0.002), absolute neutrophil count 71.37% (p-value=0.045), neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR) 12.80 (p-value=0.00) and PT 11.9 seconds (p-value=0.034) and the difference was statistically significant. While in severe/critical group, the mean values of hemoglobin 12.03g/dl (p-value=0.075), lymphocyte count 28.41% (p-value=0.8), platelet count 226×10³ μI (p-value=0.67) and APTT 30.7 (p-value=0.081) and the difference was not significantly different between groups.

Conclusion: It can be concluded from the study that total leucocyte count, absolute neutrophil count and neutrophil lymphocyte ratio can predict in-hospital mortality and morbidity in COVID-19 patients.

Keywords: APTT; Absolute neutrophil count; COVID-19; Hematological parameters; Length of hospital stay; Lymphocyte count; Neutrophil lymphocyte ratio; PT; Platelet count; Severity; Total leukocyte count; Total white cell count.