ABSTRACT
Background: Covid-19 is a novel coronavirus disease with a broad clinical spectrum that has spread globally. Regional information is needed to inform the decision making for health care providers. Aim(s): Describe the presenting characteristics, clinical course, and outcomes of hospitalized patients in a tertiary Mexican hospital. Material(s) and Method(s): Retrospective cohort study of 619 consecutive patients admitted to a Third Level Medical Facility in Puebla, between April 3rd and October 17th, 2020 with a confirmed diagnosis of Covid-19 by RT-PCR. The data included demographics, socioeconomic data, level of education, clinical data of the entire admission, and the outcome at the moment of discharge. Result(s): All patients had pneumonia. Median age was 55 years, 91% had at least one comorbidity and the most frequent were: overweight/obesity (78.2%), hypertension (35.2%) and diabetes mellitus (20.5%). Fever, malaise, and cough were the most common presenting symptoms. D-dimer, fibrinogen, glucose calcium, blood gases and organ damage markers were the most frequent laboratory test values altered. Around 35.1% of patients required invasive ventilation. The overall mortality was 31% and the poorest outcome was seen in those mechanically ventilated outside ICU. Conclusion(s): Overweight, obesity, hypertension and diabetes mellitus were the most common comorbid conditions. Fever, malaise, and cough were the most common initial symptoms. Monocytopenia rather than lymphopenia was seen in this cohort. The highest mortality rate was seen in patients on mechanical ventilation outside UCI. Copyright © 2022 Academia de Ciencias Medicas de Bilbao. All rights reserved.