Table 1. Demographic, clinical, laboratory findings of patients and treatments on admission.
| All | ICU-free and alive | ICU or death | P value | |
| Total sample‡ | 152 | 100 (68%) | 47 (32%) | |
| Demographics | ||||
| Male patients | 91 (59.9%) | 59 (59%) | 31 (66%) | 0.47 |
| Age at admission (years) | 0.014* | |||
| ≤ 60 | 41 (27%) | 34 (34%) | 7 (15%) | |
| 61–74 | 28 (18%) | 14 (14%) | 14 (30%) | |
| ≥ 75 | 83 (55%) | 52 (52%) | 26 (55%) | |
| Caucasian | 90/140 (64.3%) | 57/90 (63%) | 28/45 (62%) | |
| Comorbidities | ||||
| Smoking | 10 (6.6%) | 9 (9%) | 0 (0%) | 0.058 |
| Hypertension | 82 (53.9%) | 52 (52%) | 25 (53%) | 1 |
| Diabetes | 37 (24.3%) | 25 (25%) | 12 (26%) | 1 |
| Dyslipidemia | 50 (32.9%) | 31 (31%) | 17 (36%) | 0.57 |
| Ischemic heart disease | 35 (23%) | 21 (21%) | 13 (28%) | 0.41 |
| Cancer | 30 (19.7%) | 20 (20%) | 9 (19%) | 1 |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 12/151 (7.9%) | 7/99 (7%) | 4 (9%) | 0.75 |
| Ambulatory oxygen therapy | 3 (2%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (6%) | 0.031 |
| Baseline on-going medications | ||||
| ACE inhibitor | 28 (18.4%) | 19 (19%) | 6 (12.8%) | 0.48 |
| NSAIDs | 16 (10.5%) | 12 (12%) | 4 (8.5%) | 0.78 |
| Corticosteroids | 16 (10.5%) | 11 (11%) | 5 (10.6%) | 1 |
| Signs and symptoms on admission | ||||
| Days from first symptoms to admission | 5 (2;8) | 5 (2;9) | 5 (2;8) | 0.95 |
| Fever ≥ 38.8°C | 38 (25%) | 23 (23%) | 13 (28%) | 0.54 |
| Respiratory rate ≥ 24 breaths per minute | 85/151 (56%) | 49 (49%) | 32/46 (70%) | 0.031 |
| SpO2 on room air, %† | 93 (90–96) | 94 (91–96) | 91 (89–93) | 0.0001 |
| Oxygen therapy on admission | 110 (72.4%) | 65 (65%) | 42 (89%) | 0.003 |
| SpO2 on oxygen therapy, % | 96 (95–98) | 98 (95–99) | 95 (94–97) | 0.0009 |
| Oxygen flow, L/min | 2 (2–4) | 2 (2–3) | 3 (2–9) | 0.0008 |
| Anosmia | 17/150 (11.3%) | 13/99 (13%) | 3/46 (7%) | 0.39 |
| Dry cough | 68/151 (45%) | 43 (43%) | 23/46 (50%) | 0.48 |
| Dyspnea | 102/150 (67.5%) | 58 (58%) | 41/46 (89%) | 0.0001 |
| Myalgia | 32/150 (21.3%) | 27/99 (27%) | 5/46 (11%) | 0.031 |
| Fatigue | 70/150 (46.7%) | 50/99 (51%) | 20/46 (43%) | 0.48 |
| WHO clinical scale | 4 (3;4) | 4 (3;4) | 4 (4;5) | <0.0001 |
| Laboratory findings | ||||
| Neutrophils, /mm3 | 4350 (2948–6962) | 4155 (2722–6145) | 5240 (3465–9120) | 0.020 |
| Eosinophils, /mm3 | 0 (0–22) | 10 (0–30) | 0 (0–10) | 0.014 |
| Lymphocytes, < 800/mm3 | 73 (48%) | 39 (39%) | 30 (64%) | 0.008 |
| C-Reactive protein, mg/L | 74.5 (30.9–135.1) | 56.6 (24.0–110.6) | 112.0 (66.2–212.9) | <0.0001 |
| Interleukine-6 | 0.002 | |||
| ≥ 30 pg/mL | 31/55 (56.4%) | 17/38 (45%) | 13/14 (93%) | |
| Procalcitonin, ng/mL† | 0.2 (0.1–0.5) | 0.1 (0.1–0.3) | 0.4 (0.1–0.9) | 0.0001 |
| Ferritin, μg/L† | 913 (341–1612) | 786 (318–1348) | 1482 (758–2682) | 0.004 |
| Troponin, ng/mL† | 18.6 (9.4–39.7) | 16.5 (7.9–31.1) | 24.4 (14.2–47.7) | 0.020 |
| Lactate dehydrogenase, U/L† | 364 (284–444) | 349 (272–418) | 404 (311–498) | 0.044 |
| D-Dimer, μg/L† | 890 (570–1775) | 830 (510–1270) | 1550 (825–2305) | 0.022 |
| Imaging Studies | ||||
| No. | 105 | 70 | 32 | |
| Signs of SARS-CoV2 pneumonia | 101/103 (98%) | 66/68 (97%) | 32 (100%) | 1 |
| Stage | 0.009* | |||
| No lesions | 2/103 (2%) | 2/68 (3%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Ground-glass opacity | 48/103 (47%) | 36/68 (53%) | 10 (31%) | |
| Consolidation | 36 /103(35%) | 24/68 (35%) | 11 (34%) | |
| Bilateral pulmonary infiltration | 17/103 (17%) | 6/68 (9%) | 11 (34%) | |
| More than 50% | 25/103 (24%) | 10/61 (15%) | 13 (41%) | 0.009 |
| Echocardiograhy | ||||
| No. | 63 | 46 | 15 | |
| Left ventricular ejection fraction, %† | 65 (60–65) | 65 (65–65) | 65 (52–65) | 0.065 |
| Medications received during hospitalization | ||||
| Hydroxychloroquine | 68 (45%) | 48 (48%) | 20 (43.5%) | 0.72 |
| Tocilizumab | 6 (4.1%) | 2 (2.1%) | 4 (8.7%) | 0.087 |
ACE, angiotension-converting enzyme; NSAIDs, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; WHO, World Health Organization; SpO2, peripheral capillary oxygen saturation. Data are median (IQR), n (%) or n/N (%). P values were calculated by Mann-Whitney U test, Fisher’s exact test, as appropriate.
‡5 of the 152 patients has incomplete follow-up for ICU transfer or death within 14 days
*Fisher’s exact test comparing all subcategories.
†: number of missing values for quantitative variables: SpO2 n = 13, Procalcitonine n = 21, Ferritin n = 59, Troponin n = 22, LDH n = 46, D-Dimer n = 74, LVEF n = 2 among patients with echocardiography [for categorical variables, in case of missing values, the denominator in the table indicates the number of complete cases].