Clinical characteristics and factors associated with severity in patients admitted with SARS-CoV-2 infection

Aims The aim of this study was to provide an early interval evaluation of laboratory characteristics and clinical outcomes of adult patients with qRT-PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods We performed a single-centre retrospective cohort study. All patients with qRT-PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection admitted from March 6^th to April 2^nd were included. Daily laboratory, radiological and clinical parameters were manually collected on every patient. Results Forty-six patients were included in the analysis. Thirty-three (72%) of patients were male. The majority of patients (n=33, 89%) had at least one baseline comorbidity. Bilateral consolidation on chest x-ray (n=24, 52%) correlated with level of respiratory support required but not with mortality. Documented fever (n=33, 48%) and hypotension (n=4, 9%) correlated with highest level of respiratory support required. Older age, obesity and more than one baseline comorbid condition were associated with mortality. Regarding laboratory markers, degree of neutrophilia, lymphopenia (n=33, 73%) and raised CRP were significantly associated with death. Raised LDH, ferritin and D-dimer concentrations correlated with degree of oxygen requirement. There was no association between an early PCR cycle quantification (C_q) value (used as a proxy for viral load) and patient outcome. Conclusions We found multiple characteristics that correlated with outcome. These findings give an indication as to those patients that are at risk of a poor clinical outcome.