Study of laboratory parameters in COVID-19 patients at a tertiary care teaching hospital in Uttar Pradesh

ABSTRACT

Introduction: COVID-19 infection has been affecting vast population all over the world since 2019. It is very important to make optimum use of routine laboratory parameters in evaluating severity of COVID-19 disease. This will help the clinicians to improve allocation of technical human resources to patients who require it the most. During the path of the COVID-19 disease, inflammatory indices such as lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), biomarkers like serum procalcitonin (PCT), and ferritin and indices of coagulation profile like D-Dimer, PT levels, and hematological parameters like total leukocyte count, platelets carry prognostic value. The objective of the study is to estimate the utility of various laboratory Biochemical and Hematological parameters in COVID-19 disease. Materials and Methods: The present study is a retrospective cross-sectional observational study conducted in tertiary care rural teaching hospital. The study was conducted from September 1, 2020, to January 31, 2021. The study was carried out on the patients who were hospitalized in Isolation Ward and COVID ICU in our L3 COVID hospital. All patients with positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test results were included in the study. A sample size of 310 patients was taken. The basic demographic details were collected from the admission records. The confirmatory test for SARS-CoV-2 was done using the WHO-approved kits based on real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction for which suspected cases underwent nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swab testing. The levels of CRP, IL-6, PCT, ferritin LDH, D-dimer, complete blood counts, PT were based on standardized methods obtained using various biochemical and hematological laboratory analyzers. Data of investigation reports were gathered from electronic patient record system. Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences for Windows (version 25.0). Results: Our study clearly shows that levels of IL-6, D Dimer, PT, and LDH are quite significantly raised in majority of patients while PCT and ferritin being somewhat nonspecific show an increase but not to that significant numbers. The hematological parameters show levels which indicate mild anemia, leukocytosis, neutrophilia , lymphopenia, and thrombocytopenia in patients infected with COVID-19 disease. Conclusion: COVID-19 is an unexplored, new entity with a sudden worldwide onset. The medical fraternity is yet to conquer and analyse this novel virus.