Baseline laboratory parameters for preliminary diagnosis of COVID-19 among children: a cross-sectional study.
Sao Paulo Med J
; 140(5): 691-696, 2022.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1993593
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Clinical judgment of initial baseline laboratory tests plays an important role in triage and preliminary diagnosis among coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.OBJECTIVES:
To determine the differences in laboratory parameters between COVID-19 and COVID-like patients, and between COVID-19 and healthy children. Additionally, to ascertain whether healthy children or patients with COVID-like symptoms would form a better control group. DESIGN ANDSETTING:
Cross-sectional study at the Institute for Child and Youth Health Care of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia.METHODS:
A retrospective study was conducted on 42 pediatric patients of both sexes with COVID-19. Hematological parameters (white blood cell count, absolute lymphocyte count and platelet count) and biochemical parameters (natremia, kalemia, chloremia, aspartate aminotransferase [AST], alanine aminotransferase [ALT], lactate dehydrogenase [LDH] and C-reactive protein [CRP]) were collected. The first control group was formed by 80 healthy children and the second control group was formed by 55 pediatric patients with COVID-like symptoms.RESULTS:
Leukocytosis, lymphopenia, thrombocytosis, elevated systemic inflammatory index and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, hyponatremia, hypochloremia and elevated levels of AST, ALT, LDH and CRP were present in COVID patients, in comparison with healthy controls, while in comparison with COVID-like controls only lymphopenia was determined.CONCLUSIONS:
The presence of leukocytosis, lymphopenia, thrombocytosis, elevated systemic inflammatory index and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, hyponatremia, hypochloremia and elevated levels of AST, ALT, LDH and CRP may help healthcare providers in early identification of COVID-19 patients. Healthy controls were superior to COVID-like controls since they provided better insight into the laboratory characteristics of children with novel betacoronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Thrombocytosis
/
COVID-19
/
Hyponatremia
/
Lymphopenia
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
English
Journal:
Sao Paulo Med J
Journal subject:
Medicine
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
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