Pathophysiologic Mechanism of Hematological Abnormalities in COVID-19 Patients and its Implication in the Prognosis and Disease Severity: A Retrospective Study in a Tertiary Care COVID Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Worldwide there was recent outbreak of a novel Corona Virus infection i.e. SARS COV19. Although
it involves primarily the pulmonary system other systems like Cardiovascular, renal, neurological, hematological
systems are also significantly involved by SARS COV19 infection.
Aim: In this study our aim was to analyze the pathophysiologic mechanism of hematological abnormalities in
COVID-19 patients and its role in risk stratification, severity & prognosis of the disease.
Materials and Methods: In this study we have analyzed the clinical presentation and pathological laboratory
results of hematological abnormalities retrospectively from previous records of COVID-19 patients admitted to
our hospital. All the hematological parameters i.e. changes in Hb%, WBC Count, Platelet Count and Coagulation
Profile parameters i.e. PT-INR, aPPT& D-dimer were analyzed and correlated with the disease severity and its
prognosis. Statistical analysis was done be x2 test.
Results: In our study the most common hematological abnormality was Lymphopenia followed by Leukocytosis
and majority of the patient were >60 Yrs. age with male predominance.
Conclusion: Among all the hematological abnormalities coagulation parameter D-dimer (elevated levels) are most
significantly associated with disease severity. Among the other hematological abnormalities the most common
abnormality was Lymphopenia which along with combined features of Anemia, Leukocytosis andNeutrophilia
were also significantly associated with disease severity. So, monitoring & evaluation of hematological parameters
could be a crucial step towards risk stratification & management of COVID-19 patients.