The importance of using routine laboratory tests in the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with coronavirus disease 2019: Shedding light on clinical laboratory data in COVID-19.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has become a global concern and requires early detection, isolation, and treatment. Our purpose is to find some beneficial information by analyzing the COVID-19 laboratory data to provide guidance for clinical practice. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this study, 174 patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection were admitted. We evaluated the hematological and biochemical parameters in these patients and in 80 healthy individuals. RESULTS: We found that there was significant difference between WBC, LYM, RBC, HB, and HCT parameters of patients and healthy counterparts (p < .001), though there was no remarkable change between NEU, MONO, PLT, and other characteristics of RBC values of patients and the control group (p ≥ .09). Among the evaluated biochemical parameters, the values of CK-MB and LDH in the patient group were significantly different from the control group (p < .01), while other biochemical indicators were in the normal range. CONCLUSION: Several hematological and biochemistry parameters, in particular WBC, LYM, RBC, HB, HCT, CK-MB, and LDH, could be beneficial supplementary approach for COVID-19 infection evaluation to confirm risk stratification and effective management.