Table 1.
General features of study population
| Cases (N = 66) |
Controls (N = 198) |
p value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | |||
| Gender (Female), n (%) | 32 (48) | 96 (48) | 1.000 |
| Age, mean (SD) | 62.14 (± 15.37) | 61.28 (± 14.4) | 0.697 |
| Steroids in the last 30 days before admission, n (%) | 26 (39) | 19 (10) | < 0.001 |
| Infection in the last 30 days before admission, n (%) | 14 (21) | 5 (3) | 0.001 |
| Antibiotic therapy in the last 30 days (excluded prophylaxis), n (%) | 22 (33) | 69 (35) | 0.883 |
| Antibiotic prophylaxis therapy, n (%) | 24 (36) | 0 (0) | < 0.001 |
| Days of hospitalization, mean (SD) | 31.79 (± 28.04) | 19.16 (± 13.4) | 0.001 |
| Days from symptoms onset to hospitalization, mean (SD) | 5.48 (± 9.03) | 6.72 (± 6.02) | 0.310 |
| Complete vaccination for SARS-CoV-2, n (%) | 1 (1.5) | 1 (0.5) | 0.9 |
| Comorbidities, n (%) | |||
| Hypertension | 23 (35) | 93 (47) | 0.082 |
| Coronary artery disease | 14 (21) | 18 (9) | 0.029 |
| Diabetes | 9 (14) | 33 (17) | 0.547 |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 4 (6) | 17 (9) | 0.481 |
| Chronic renal failure | 6 (9) | 10 (5) | 0.302 |
| Disease severity at the admission, n (%) | |||
| Moderate | 42 (64) | 127 (64) | 0.904 |
| Severe | 18 (27) | 57 (29) | 0.796 |
| Critical | 3 (5) | 12 (6) | 0.619 |
| Pneumonia | 55 (83) | 143 (72) | 0.169 |
| Symptoms at the admission, n (%) | |||
| Dyspnea | 26 (39) | 116 (59) | 0.007 |
| Cough | 24 (36) | 100 (51) | 0.044 |
| Asthenia | 28 (42) | 54 (27) | 0.197 |
| Anosmia/ageusia | 4 (6) | 24 (12) | 0.109 |
| Fever | 46 (70) | 159 (80) | 0.099 |
| Conjunctivitis | 2 (3) | 12 (6) | 0.267 |
| Other* | 1 (2) | 0 (0) | 0.322 |
| Asymptomatic | 4 (6) | 7 (4) | 0.438 |
| Respiratory features at the admission, mean (SD) | |||
| SpO2 | 95.6 (± 5.2) | 95.3 (± 3.2) | 0.680 |
| PO2/FiO2 | 357.0 (± 102.1) | 352.4 (± 101) | 0.750 |
| FiO2 | 24.6 (± 8.5) | 24.2 (± 9.3) | 0.737 |
| Laboratory findings at the admission, mean (SD) | |||
| Haemoglobin, g/dl | 11.4 (± 2.0) | 13.4 (± 2.1) | < 0.001 |
| White Blood Cells, × 10˄6/L | 8761.4 (± 10,816.8) | 7762.7 (± 9170.8) | 0.502 |
| Neutrophils, × 10˄6/L | 5697.8 (± 7252.7) | 5610.8 (± 3740.4) | 0.926 |
| Lymphocytes, × 10˄6/L | 2209.4 (± 6128.7) | 1043.0 (± 522.5) | 0.127 |
| Monocytes, × 10˄6/L | 345.5 (± 385.8) | 369.2 (± 194.56) | 0.633 |
| Platelets, × 10˄9/L | 172.6 (± 114.4) | 218.8 (± 830.2) | 0.003 |
| Thrombocytopenia (< 150 × 10˄9/L), n (%) | 26 (± 39) | 35 (± 18) | 0.002 |
| Neutropenia (< 500 × 10˄9/L), n (%) | 9 (± 14) | 1 (± 1) | 0.003 |
| Creatinin, mg/dl | 1.1 (± 1.3) | 1.4 (± 2.3) | 0.318 |
| Albumin, g/dl | 35.6 (± 6.7) | 37.4 (± 5.5) | 0.003 |
| D-dimer, µg/L | 1229.2 (± 1200.3) | 947.7 (± 994) | 0.093 |
| C-Reactive Protein, mg/dL | 6.574 (± 8.417) | 7.062 (± 7.522) | 0.650 |
| Ferritin, µg/L | 1472.2 (± 1903.3) | 752.3 (± 794.1) | 0.008 |
| LDH, U/L | 341.4 (± 160.3) | 311.5 (± 133.1) | 0.174 |
| Procalcitonin, ng/ml | 0.3 (± 0.5) | 0.9 (± 3) | 0.117 |
| Features at the respiratory worsening** | |||
| Worsening during hospitalization, n (%) | 52 (78.7) | 129 (65.5) | 0.04 |
| FiO2 mean (SD) | 39.3 (± 22.1) | 59.8 (± 23.7) | < 0.001 |
| PO2/FiO2, mean (SD) | 259.2 (± 115.8) | 208.7 (± 82.7) | 0.003 |
| Days from symptoms onset to worsening, mean (SD) | 13.20 (± 11.69) | 9.45 (± 5.38) | 0.041 |
| Days from SARS-CoV2 diagnosis to worsening, mean (SD) | 11.63 (± 13.69) | 5.69 (± 4.4) | 0.006 |
| Days from admission to worsening, mean (SD) | 12.3 (± 12.3) | 3.3 (± 3.1) | 0.001 |
| Days from thrombocytopenia to worsening, mean (SD) | 5.7 (± 10.4) | 3.0 (± 2.3) | 0.119 |
| Days from neutropenia to worsening, mean (SD) | 1.2 (± 5.2) | 1.2 (± 5.5) | 0.897 |
| Radiological features, mean (SD) | |||
| Percentage of total lung parenchyma involvement | 39 (26.3) | NA | – |
| Total CT score | 6 (6.2) | NA | – |
| Percentage of lung parenchyma involvement at CT1 | 22.58 (22.19) | NA | – |
| CT score at CT1 | 5.49 (5.55) | NA | – |
| Percentage of lung parenchyma involvement at CT2 | 36.31 (24.55) | NA | – |
| CT score at CT2 | 8.71 (6.02) | NA | – |
| Therapy, n (%) | |||
| Remdesivir | 31 (47) | 79 (40) | 0.250 |
| Enoxaparin | 48 (73) | 161 (81) | 0.234 |
| Corticosteroids | 60 (91) | 145 (73) | < 0.001 |
| Days of corticosteroids | 18.1 (22.9) | 8.1 (4.3) | < 0.001 |
| Baricitinib | 1 (2) | 0 (0) | 0.321 |
| Convalescent plasma | 8 (12) | 0 (0) | 0.004 |
| Antibiotics | 55 (83) | 128 (65) | < 0.001 |
| Outcomes | |||
| Intensive Care Unit admission, n (%) | 18 (27) | 16 (8) | 0.002 |
| In-hospital mortality, n (%) | 23 (35) | 20 (10) | < 0.001 |
| Days of viral shedding, mean (SD) | 35.4 (± 23.4) | 19.4 (± 10.2) | 0.010 |
| Secondary infections, n (%) | 26 (39) | 58 (29) | 0.137 |
| MDRO colonization | 1 (2) | 2 (1) | 0.912 |
| Opportunistic infections | 8 (12) | 0 (0) | 0.004 |
*other include headache, diarrhea and pharyngodynia; **respiratory worsening was defined as: i) the need of supplementary oxygen therapy or ii) the need of increasing oxygen therapy supplementation in a patient with SARS-CoV2 infection for reasons directly related to the infection. A careful evaluation of causes of supplementary oxygen therapy for reasons other than SARS-CoV2 infection (i.e. cardiac failure, bacterial superinfections) was performed. In the case of doubt, a panel discussion was performed. MDRO Multidrug resistant organisms.