Clinical Characteristics of Patients with Severe and Critical COVID-19 in Wuhan: A Single-Center, Retrospective Study.

Introduction: This retrospective, single-center study was performed to systemically describe the characteristics and outcomes of patients with severe and critical coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan, analyze the risk factors, and propose suggestions for clinical diagnosis and treatment to guide the subsequent clinical practice.

Methods: A total of 753 consecutive patients with COVID-19 admitted to the West Campus of Wuhan Union Hospital from January 22, 2020 to May 7, 2020 were enrolled in this study. Demographic, clinical, laboratory, and outcome data were extracted from the electronic medical records of Wuhan Union Hospital and were exhaustively analyzed using R (version 3.6.1).

Results: A total of 493 severe and 228 critical cases out of 753 COVID-19 cases were considered in this study. Among the critical cases, the death rate was 79.4%, and age was a risk factor for death. Compared to the severe disease group, the critical disease group had higher white blood cell (WBC) and neutrophil counts and a decreased lymphocyte count at admission. Compared to early death cases (death within 1 week after admission), a more prolonged course of the disease was associated with a higher risk of hypoproteinemia, liver injury, thrombocytopenia, anemia, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), coagulation disorders, acute kidney injury (AKI), and infection. Higher creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels were related to early death events, but univariate and multivariate analyses confirmed only LDH as an independent predictor of early death. Notably, anticoagulation therapy was associated with an improved prognosis of critical cases in this cohort.

Conclusion: Our results showed large differences between patients with severe and critical COVID-19. During the course of COVID-19 in the critical disease group, the incidence of hypoproteinemia, anemia, thrombocytopenia, and coagulation disorders increased significantly, which highlighted the importance of medical care in the first week after admission. LDH could act as an independent predictor of early death in critical cases, and anticoagulation therapy was correlated with an improved prognosis of patients with critical COVID-19.