Clinical characteristics of 50 patients with severe COVID-19 and treatment options

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical characteristics of patients with Corona Virus Disease 2019(COVID-19) and the treatment options. METHODS: The clinical data of 50 patients with COVID-19 who were treated in the Sino-French New City Campus of Tongji Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology from Feb 2, 2020 to Feb 28, 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical characteristics and treatment options of the patients were analyzed, the clinical laboratory test indexes were observed before and after the treatment, and the cure rate was analyzed. RESULTS: The major clinical symptoms of the 50 patients with COVID-19 included cough, expectoration, dyspnea, fever, diarrhea and muscle soreness. The imaging findings of all the patients were characterized by chest radiograph/chest CT interstitial lesions in both lungs. All of the patients were given drug therapy and oxygen therapy. The drug treatment options included hormone plus antibacterial therapy, antiviral plus hormonal therapy, antiviral plus antibacterial therapy, antiviral plus hormone plus antibacterial therapy;the proportion of the patients who were given antiviral plus hormone plus antibacterial therapy was the highest(72%). Arbidol was the most commonly used antiviral drug, with the utilization rate 98%;methylprednisolone was the most commonly used hormone, with the utilization rate 80%;moxifloxacin was the most commonly used antibiotic, with the utilization rate 72%. Among the 50 patients, 3 patients had increased white blood cell(WBC) counts, and 4 patients had decreased WBC counts;60% of the patients had increased percentage of neutrophils, and 74% of the patients had decreased lymphocytes counts. The WBC counts and lymphocytes level were significantly higher after the treatment for 7 and 14 days than before the treatment(P<0.05);the percentage of neutrophils and PCT level were significantly lower after the treatment than before the treatment(P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The detection rate of interstitial lung lesions is high among the patients with COVID-19, and most of the patients are complicated with cough, expectoration, dyspnea, fever, diarrhea and muscle soreness. Arbidol, combined with hormones or antibiotics on the basis of actual situation, may effectively improve the serological indexes of the patients with COVID-19 and raise the cure rate.