ABSTRACT
Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presents clinically a variety of pathological and clinical organ dysfunctions, ranging in severity from asymptomatic to fatal. The care and monitoring of COVID-19 patients may benefit from the use of biochemical and hematological markers. Objective To observe the alteration of serum biochemical and hematological parameters in COVID-19 positive patients, attending a Tertiary Care Hospital. Method A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on all COVID-19 positive patients attending Nobel Medical College Teaching Hospital, Biratnagar, Nepal from 15th December 2021 to 15th February 2022. The test results of different serum biochemical and hematological parameters done for these patients were recorded in clinical laboratory services and obtained retrospectively for the analysis. The data were entered in MS excel and analyzed by SPSS version 20. Result Out of 1537 COVID-11699 declared positive patients, 712 (46.32%) were male and 825 (53.68%) female. Mean age of COVID positive patients was 40.03+/-20.08 years. The level of serum SGOT, SGPT, ALP and GGT was significantly elevated in 39.9%, 42.8%, 32.3% and 47.2% of COVID positive patients respectively. Blood Urea, creatinine, uric acid and sugar level were significantly elevated in 63%, 56.1%, 33.1% and 47.6% patients respectively. The serum level of LDH, D-dimer, CRP and procalcitonin (PCT) were significantly increased in 52.1%, 75.9%, 71.6% and 61.2% of patients respectively. The serum value of total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL and LDL were significantly lowered in 52.2%, 43.8%, 70.1% and 60.3% of patients respectively. RBC concentration and level of hemoglobin was reduced in 56.6% and 53.6% of COVID positive patients respectively whereas total leukocyte count was elevated in 80.7% with increase in neutrophil in 87.9% and decrease in lymphocyte in 79.4%. Conclusion A portion of COVID-19 positive patients showed drastically altered test results for various serum biochemical and hematological markers, although many of them had normal findings. Copyright © 2022, Kathmandu University. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background-aim: The COVID-19 pandemic has re-emphasized the need for the timely delivery of clinical laboratory results to support optimal patient care. The objective of this study was to determine if current instrumentation in Saskatoon hospital chemistry laboratories could accommodate the anticipated COVID workload in addition to non-COVID testing for the existing acute care hospitals and proposed field hospitals. Methods: A simulation model was utilized to assess workload and turn-around-time (TAT) capacity for pre-analytic, total analytic, chemistry, ion-selective-electrode and immunoassay testing to accommodate an expanded COVID workload. Anticipated COVID patient numbers and a COVID specific test menu were incrementally introduced into a 24 hour pre-COVID testing workload. The impact of field hospital location, courier schedule and daily instrument maintenance schedule were also considered when calculating a TAT from specimen collection to result reporting. Results: Instrumentation throughput, scheduled times for instrument daily maintenance and the time of day when the specimen surge is received in the laboratory were found to be significant predictors of laboratory’s ability to accommodate anticipated COVID workload. Courier schedule and proximity of the field hospital to the laboratory significantly influenced the TAT for field hospital testing. Conclusions: A simulation model is a helpful tool to provide useful information for optimal delivery of multi-site clinical laboratory services during the COVID-19 pandemic.