Clinical features of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 from a designated hospital in Beijing, China

Abstract

Clinical and laboratory data on patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Beijing, China, remain extremely limited. In this study, we summarized the clinical characteristics of patients with COVID-19 from a designated hospital in Beijing. In total, 55 patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in Beijing 302 Hospital were enrolled in this study. Demographic data, symptoms, comorbidities, laboratory values, treatments, and clinical outcomes were all collected and retrospectively analyzed. A total of 15 (27.3%) patients had severe symptoms, the mean age was 44.0 years (interquartile range [IQR], 34.0-56.0), and the median incubation period was 7.5 days (IQR, 5.0-11.8). A total of 26 (47.3%) patients had exposure history in Wuhan of less than 2 weeks, whereas 20 (36.4%) patients were associated with familial clusters. Also, eighteen (32.7%) patients had underlying comorbidities including hypertension. The most common symptom of illness was fever (45; 81.8%); 51 (92.7%) patients had abnormal findings on chest computed tomography. Laboratory findings showed that neutrophil count, percentage of lymphocyte, percentage of eosinophil, eosinophil count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, albumin, and serum ferritin are potential risk factors for patients with a poor prognosis. A total of 26 patients (47.3%) were still hospitalized, whereas 29 (52.7%) patients had been discharged. Compared with patients in Wuhan, China, the symptoms of patients in Beijing are relatively mild. Older age, more comorbidities, and more abnormal prominent laboratory markers were associated with a severe condition. On the basis of antiviral drugs, it is observed that antibiotics treatment, appropriate dosage of corticosteroid, and gamma globulin therapy significantly improve patients' outcomes. Early identification and timely medical treatment are important to reduce the severity of patients with COVID-19.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; clinical features; coronavirus disease 2019; designated Hospital in Beijing.

Figure 1

Chest computed tomographic images of patients with COVID‐19. A, Computed tomography images of a 55‐year‐old woman with nonsevere symptoms, showing patchy consolidation in both lungs. B, Computed tomography images of a 50‐year‐old woman with severe symptoms, showing bilateral ground‐glass opacity and consolidation on day 4 after fever and cough onset. COVID‐19, coronavirus disease 2019

Figure 2

Laboratory findings in patients with COVID‐19. A, Top 60% of the abnormal laboratory parameters among all patients with COVID‐19. B, Top 60% of the abnormal laboratory parameters in nonsevere patients with COVID‐19. C, Top 60% of abnormal parameters in severe patients with COVID‐19. COVID‐19, coronavirus disease 2019

Figure 3

Laboratory findings in hospitalized and discharged patients with COVID‐19. A, Top 60% of abnormal laboratory parameters among hospitalized patients. B, Top 60% of abnormal parameters among discharged patients. COVID‐19, coronavirus disease 2019