CBC Differences between Survived and Deceased COVID-19 Patients: A Cohort Study

Area of Science:

• Hematology
• Infectious Diseases
• Clinical Pathology

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for accessible diagnostic tools.
• Complete Blood Count (CBC) offers a cost-effective method for patient assessment.
• CBC parameters are crucial for monitoring hospitalized patients and predicting prognosis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the prognostic value of CBC parameters in COVID-19 patients.
• To determine if specific CBC indices correlate with disease severity and patient outcomes.
• To assess the utility of CBC for daily follow-up of hospitalized COVID-19 cases.

Main Methods:

• Prospective monitoring of CBC tests in 100 COVID-19 patients over ten days.
• Comparison of CBC results between general ward and intensive care unit (ICU) patients.
• Calculation of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) at admission.

Main Results:

• ICU patients exhibited significantly lower white blood cell (WBC) counts (P=0.008).
• Deceased patients had lower lymphocyte percentages (P=0.041) and higher neutrophil percentages (P=0.012) compared to survivors.
• Survivors showed significantly higher monocyte percentages (P=0.003) than non-survivors.

Conclusions:

• Lower WBC, lymphocyte, and monocyte percentages, coupled with higher neutrophil percentages, suggest a poor prognosis in moderate to severe COVID-19.
• CBC parameters serve as valuable indicators for predicting COVID-19 outcomes.
• Routine CBC testing can aid in the management and triage of COVID-19 patients.