Clinical characteristics of 21 cases of COVID-19 induced death: A retrospective study

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 induced deaths and analyze the causes of death. Methods: This was a hospital-based, retrospective, observational cohort study involving hospitalized patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in People's Hospital of Wuhan University during January 27 and February 25, 2020. The clinical data of identified patients who had died of COVID-19 were retrieved and reviewed. We analyzed the death causes and compared the changes in laboratory findings between patients before death and early onset to summarize the inherent clinical characteristics. Results: We recorded a total of 21 deaths, 61.9% of which had occurred due to simple respiratory failure, followed by respiratory failure with myocardial injury (19%), respiratory failure with renal failure (9.5%), and respiratory failure with shock (9.5%). At the late time, lab test data indicated that white blood cells, D-dimer, amino-terminal brain natriuretic peptide precursors, and hypersensitive C-reactive protein significantly increased while counts of lymphosyte significantly decreased (P<0.05). Conclusion: Continuous monitoring of cardiac function, renal function, and infection severity can assess the disease progression accurately. Moreover, timely intervention has a positive effect in reducing COVID-19 mortality. © 2021, Editorial Board of Journal of Xi'an Jiaotong University (Medical Sciences). All right reserved.