Table 1.
Summary of characteristics of COVID-19 patients according to the pneumonia severity.
| Characteristic | Mild infection | Moderate pneumonia | Severe pneumonia/ acute respiratory distress syndrome | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. patients | 84 | 88 | 51 | |
| Age (years) | 50.2 (31.8-65.5) | 65.6 (54.4-75.5) | 72 (62.9-82.3) | <0.001 |
| Gender (male) | 43 (51.2%) | 56 (63.6%) | 38 (74.5%) | 0.023 |
| Comorbidities | ||||
| Chronic heart disease | 4 (4.8%) | 19 (21.6%) | 15 (29.4%) | <0.001 |
| Hypertension | 19 (22.6%) | 45 (51.1%) | 31 (60.8%) | <0.001 |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 6 (7.1%) | 9 (10.2%) | 11 (21.6%) | 0.035 |
| Asthma | 4 (4.8%) | 7 (7.9%) | 2 (3.9%) | 0.539 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 1 (1.2%) | 9 (10.2%) | 7 (13.7%) | 0.014 |
| Liver cirrhosis | 4 (4.8%) | 3 (3.4%) | 5 (9.8%) | 0.260 |
| Cancer | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (2.3%) | 1 (1.9%) | 0.394 |
| Obesity | 8 (9.5%) | 38 (43.2%) | 30 (58.8%) | <0.001 |
| Diabetes | 5 (5.9%) | 18 (20.4%) | 14 (27.4%) | 0.002 |
| Dyslipidemia | 14 (16.7%) | 29 (32.9%) | 23 (45.1%) | 0.001 |
| Smoker | 10 (11.9%) | 7 (7.9%) | 3 (5.9%) | 0.451 |
| Charlson comorbidity index | 0 (0-2.5) | 3 (1-4.5) | 4 (2-6) | <0.001 |
| Time from COVID-19 symptoms to sample collection (days) | 5.7 (2.8-7.8) | 7.1 (3.6-7.4) | 7.4 (4.6-8.9) | 0.179 |
| Oxygen saturation (%) | 0.97 (0.95-0.98) | 0.94 (0.92-0.96) | 0.85 (0.8-0.87) | <0.001 |
| Baseline laboratory findings | ||||
| Hematocrit (%) | 42.9 (40.4-46.7) | 42.9 (39.8-45.3) | 43.3 (39.9-46.2) | 0.950 |
| White blood cells (x 103 cells/µl) | 5.8 (5-7.2) | 5.6 (4.5-7.9) | 7.8 (5.6-10.3) | 0.007 |
| Lymphocytes (x 103 cells/µl) | 1.3 (1-1.7) | 1 (0.8-1.4) | 0.75 (0.5-1.2) | <0.001 |
| Neutrophils (x 103 cells/µl) | 4 (3-5) | 3.9 (2.9-5.8) | 6.2 (3.9-8.9) | <0.001 |
| Thrombocytes (x 109 cells/l) | 188 (161-257) | 185 (127.5-231) | 175 (146-247) | 0.429 |
| International normalized ratio | 0.99 (0.94-1.1) | 0.98 (0.94-1) | 1.1 (0.97-1.2) | 0.009 |
| Glucose (mg/dl) | 105 (95-114) | 113 (103-137) | 132 (117-164) | <0.001 |
| Creatinine (mg/dl) | 0.8 (0.7-1) | 0.9 (0.8-1.2) | 1.1 (0.8-1.5) | <0.001 |
| Estimated glomerular filtration rate (ml/min) | 87.3 (76-100.7) | 79.9 (58.9-90.9) | 67.4 (44-85.9) | <0.001 |
| Albumin (g/dl) | 4.4 (4-4.5) | 4 (3.8-4.3) | 3.7 (3.5-4) | <0.001 |
| Alanine aminotransferase (IU/l) | 23 (18-36) | 32 (19-56) | 29 (19-59) | 0.089 |
| Lactate dehydrogenase (IU/l) | 219 (197-280) | 309 (249.5-388.5) | 433 (328-522) | <0.001 |
| Ferritin (ug/l) | 209 (99-522) | 413 (198-914) | 672 (372-1343) | <0.001 |
| C-reactive Protein (mg/l) | 13.9 (3.4-38.1) | 56.1 (26.8-108.5) | 123.3 (77.7-200.8) | <0.001 |
Statistics: Values are expressed as the median and interquartile range for continuous variables and absolute count (percentage) for categorical variables. Comparisons between groups were performed using the Mann-Whitney U-test for continuous variables and the chi-square test (χ2) or Fisher's exact test for categorical variables. Statistically significant differences are shown in bold.