1. Analysis of absolute lymphocyte count in patients with COVID-19
- Author
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Brian Allen, Justin Nippert, Zachary Illg, Gregory Muller, and Matthew Mueller
- Subjects
Male ,CBC, complete blood count ,Lymphocyte ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Disease ,0302 clinical medicine ,Intubation ,Young adult ,CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ,AGPs, aerosol-generating procedures ,Aged, 80 and over ,General Medicine ,Middle Aged ,Hospitalization ,Intensive Care Units ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Emergency Medicine ,ED, emergency department ,Female ,Emergency Service, Hospital ,Adult ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Adolescent ,Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,RT-PCR, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction ,SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ,Article ,Young Adult ,03 medical and health sciences ,WBC, white blood count ,Lymphopenia ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Humans ,Lymphocyte Count ,Pandemics ,Absolute lymphocyte count ,COVID-19, coronavirus disease ,Aged ,Retrospective Studies ,business.industry ,ALC, absolute lymphocyte count ,COVID-19 ,030208 emergency & critical care medicine ,Retrospective cohort study ,Emergency department ,United States ,Coronavirus ,business ,Biomarkers - Abstract
Introduction Symptoms of COVID-19 vary in severity and presentation. When admitting patients to the hospital, it is desirable to isolate patients with COVID-19 from those without the disease. However, reliably identifying patients with COVID-19 in the emergency department before hospital admission is often limited by the speed and availability of testing. Previous studies determined a low lymphocyte count is commonly found in patients with COVID-19. We sought to explore the sensitivity of absolute lymphocyte count in patients presenting to the emergency department requiring subsequent hospitalization who were found to have COVID-19. Methods A retrospective chart review was performed on 312 patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 who were admitted to the hospital from the emergency department. The absolute lymphocyte count for these patients was used to calculate sensitivities at various cut-off values. The relationships between absolute lymphocyte count and variables, including age, sex, need for intubation, and mortality, were also explored. Results Cut-off values for absolute lymphocyte count ranged from 1.1 K/uL to 2.0 K/uL, with sensitivities of 72% and 94%, respectively. Additionally, lower mean absolute lymphocyte counts were identified in males, patients who required intubation, and patients who died. Conclusion Knowing the sensitivity of absolute lymphocyte count in patients with COVID-19 may help identify patients who are unlikely to have the disease. Additionally, absolute lymphocyte count can be used as a marker of disease severity in patients with COVID-19.
- Published
- 2021
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