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Meta-Analysis
. 2020 Mar-Apr:34:101623.
doi: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2020.101623. Epub 2020 Mar 13.

Clinical, laboratory and imaging features of COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Alfonso J Rodriguez-Morales  1 , Jaime A Cardona-Ospina  2 , Estefanía Gutiérrez-Ocampo  3 , Rhuvi Villamizar-Peña  3 , Yeimer Holguin-Rivera  3 , Juan Pablo Escalera-Antezana  4 , Lucia Elena Alvarado-Arnez  5 , D Katterine Bonilla-Aldana  6 , Carlos Franco-Paredes  7 , Andrés F Henao-Martinez  8 , Alberto Paniz-Mondolfi  9 , Guillermo J Lagos-Grisales  3 , Eduardo Ramírez-Vallejo  3 , Jose A Suárez  10 , Lysien I Zambrano  11 , Wilmer E Villamil-Gómez  12 , Graciela J Balbin-Ramon  13 , Ali A Rabaan  14 , Harapan Harapan  15 , Kuldeep Dhama  16 , Hiroshi Nishiura  17 , Hiromitsu Kataoka  18 , Tauseef Ahmad  19 , Ranjit Sah  20 ; Latin American Network of Coronavirus Disease 2019-COVID-19 Research (LANCOVID-19). Electronic address: https://www.lancovid.org
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Clinical, laboratory and imaging features of COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Alfonso J Rodriguez-Morales et al. Travel Med Infect Dis. 2020 Mar-Apr.

Abstract

Introduction: An epidemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) began in December 2019 in China leading to a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Clinical, laboratory, and imaging features have been partially characterized in some observational studies. No systematic reviews on COVID-19 have been published to date.

Methods: We performed a systematic literature review with meta-analysis, using three databases to assess clinical, laboratory, imaging features, and outcomes of COVID-19 confirmed cases. Observational studies and also case reports, were included, and analyzed separately. We performed a random-effects model meta-analysis to calculate pooled prevalences and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI).

Results: 660 articles were retrieved for the time frame (1/1/2020-2/23/2020). After screening, 27 articles were selected for full-text assessment, 19 being finally included for qualitative and quantitative analyses. Additionally, 39 case report articles were included and analyzed separately. For 656 patients, fever (88.7%, 95%CI 84.5-92.9%), cough (57.6%, 95%CI 40.8-74.4%) and dyspnea (45.6%, 95%CI 10.9-80.4%) were the most prevalent manifestations. Among the patients, 20.3% (95%CI 10.0-30.6%) required intensive care unit (ICU), 32.8% presented with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (95%CI 13.7-51.8), 6.2% (95%CI 3.1-9.3) with shock. Some 13.9% (95%CI 6.2-21.5%) of hospitalized patients had fatal outcomes (case fatality rate, CFR).

Conclusion: COVID-19 brings a huge burden to healthcare facilities, especially in patients with comorbidities. ICU was required for approximately 20% of polymorbid, COVID-19 infected patients and hospitalization was associated with a CFR of >13%. As this virus spreads globally, countries need to urgently prepare human resources, infrastructure and facilities to treat severe COVID-19.

Keywords: Clinical features; Coronavirus disease 2019; Epidemic; Laboratory; Outcomes; SARS-CoV-2.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest All authors report no potential conflicts. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Study selection and characteristics.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

  • Rehabilitation of post-COVID-19 patients.
    Asly M, Hazim A. Asly M, et al. Pan Afr Med J. 2020 Jul 9;36:168. doi: 10.11604/pamj.2020.36.168.23823. eCollection 2020. Pan Afr Med J. 2020. PMID: 32952812 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

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