ABSTRACT
Background: In COVID-19 patients, besides changes in leucocyte count, morphological abnormalities of circulating blood cells have been reported. Aim: This study aims to investigate the relationship between the morphological and functional properties of leucocytes and the severity of the disease in COVID-19 patients. Materials and Methods: Blood samples were collected from COVID-19 patients (n = 130) at the time of admission. The patients were stratified according to the comorbidity, age, LDH, lymhocyte count score as mild, moderate, and severe. Complete blood count and the cell population data were analyzed by the Volume, conductivity, scatter (VCS) technology on Beckman Coulter LH-780 hematology analyzer. Kruskal-Wal'lis test was used to assess the differences between the groups with subsequent Bonferroni correction. Results: Neutrophil count was increased, and lymphocyte count was decreased in severe patients compared to mild patients. The increase in the percent of neutrophils and the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio in the severe patient group was significant in comparison to both the moderate and the mild group. The dispersion of the neutrophil volume and conductivity showed significant changes depending on the severity of the disease. The lymphocyte volume, lymphocyte-volume-SD and lymphocyte-conductivity as well as the monocyte-volume and monocyte-volume-SD were significantly increased in severe patients in comparison to mild patients. The increase of lymphocyte and monocyte volume in severe patients was also significant in comparison to moderate patients. Conclusions: COVID-19 infection leads to important changes in cell population data of leucocytes. The volumetric changes in lymphocytes and monocytes are related to the severity of the disease.
