Introduction: The clinical symptoms of COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 pulmonary infections are very similar. This study aimed to differentiate between these groups of patients by evaluating laboratory criteria and abnormalities in CT scans. Materials & Methods: The medical records of 200 patients referred to Amir Hospital in Zabol were analyzed between February 2020 to February 2021. Some of our findings in the COVID-19 group, compared to the non-COVID-19 group, included increase in red blood cell counts (RBCs), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean hematocrit (HCT), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR). Results: The COVID-19 group had a lower mean corpuscular volume (MCV) of 80 femtoliters (fL) and mean cell hemoglobin (MCH) below 36. The symptoms of pulmonary infection were mostly bilateral in the COVID-19 group, whereas in the non-COVID-19 group, they were predominantly unilateral. In total, 21.6% of patients had 5 to 10 lesions, while 24.7% of the non-COVID-19 group had fewer than 3 lesions. The COVID-19 group showed a distribution of both peripheral and diffuse lesions, whereas the non-COVID-19 group had a predominantly peripheral distribution. Linear opacity and ground-glass opacity (GGO) were observed in 10(6.2%) and 40(24.7%) individuals in the COVID-19 group, and in 13(8%) and 32(19.8) individuals in the non-COVID-19 group, respectively. Twenty-one (13%) COVID-19 patients and 16(9.9%) non-COVID-19 patients exhibited septal thickening. Moreover, fine reticular opacities, crazy paving patterns, and pleural effusion were observed in 6(3.7%), 19(11.7%), and 8(4.9%) of the COVID-19 patients, and in 20(12.3%), 24(14.8%), and 18(11.1%) of the non-COVID-19 patients, respectively. Conclusion: Finally, this study concluded that laboratory indices such as MCV, and CT scan findings such as septal thickening are very beneficial for distinguishing between these two groups. |
References
- Kosidło JW, Wolszczak-Biedrzycka B, Matowicka-Karna J, Dymicka-Piekarska V, Dorf J. Clinical significance and diagnostic utility of NLR, LMR, PLR and SII in the Course of COVID-19: A literature review. J Inflamm Res. 2023; 16:539-62. [DOI:10.2147/JIR.S395331] [PMID]
- Motamed N. An overview of future development methods of infectious bronchitis vaccines. Iran J Vet Med. 2000; 18(1):1-12. [DOI:10.32598/IJVM.18.1.1005406]
- Solomon JJ, Heyman B, Ko JP, Condos R, Lynch DA. CT of post-acute lung complications of COVID-19. Radiology. 2021; 301(2):E383-95. [DOI:10.1148/radiol.2021211396] [PMID]
- World Health Organization. Bulletin of the World Health Organization.Geneva: World Health Organization; 2024. [Link]
- Ebrahimoghli R, Abbasi-Ghahramanloo A, Moradi-As lE, Adham D. The COVID-19 pandemic’s true death toll in Iran after two years: an interrupted time series analysis of weekly all-cause mortality data. BMC Public Health. 2023; 23(1):442. [DOI:10.1186/s12889-023-15336-0] [PMID]
- Shakibnia P, Ahmadi RH, Fallah F, Ebrahimzadeh F, Dosari AS, Mojtahedi A, et al. Iran as the Center of challenges in the Middle East for the Outbreak of COVID-19 Delta Variant. Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2021; 23(11):e1394. [DOI:10.32592/ircmj.2021.23.11.1394]
- Rothan HA, Byrareddy SN. The epidemiology and pathogenesis of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. J Autoimmun. 2020; 109:102433. [DOI:10.1016/j.jaut.2020.102433] [PMID]
- Khazaei HA, Rezaei N, Bagheri GR, Dankoub MA, Shahryari K, Tahai A, et al. Epidemiology of tuberculosis in the southeastern Iran. Eur J Epidemiol. 2005; 20(10):879-83. [DOI:10.1007/s10654-005-2152-y] [PMID]
- Shahsavani A, Tobías A, Querol X, Stafoggia M, Abdolshahnejad M, Mayvaneh F, et al. Short-term effects of particulate matter during desert and non-desert dust days on mortality in Iran. Environ Int. 2020; 134:105299. [DOI:10.1016/j.envint.2019.105299] [PMID]
- Hemmatjou Sh, Lotfi F, Akrami R, Shahraki J, Sheervalilou R, Shahraki O, et al. Investigating the Association between COVID-19 Prognosis and Demographic and Clinical Features, Underlying Diseases, and Drug and Supplement Use in Patients Hospitalized in Zabol, Iran: A Single-Center Retrospective Study. Infect Epidemiol Microbiol. 2023; 9(2):167-78. [DOI:10.61186/iem.9.2.167]
- Suganya D, Kalpana R. Prognosticating various acute covid lung disorders from COVID-19 patient using chest CT Images. Eng Appl Artif Intell. 2023; 119:105820. [DOI:10.1016/j.engappai.2023.105820] [PMID]
- Yu Q, Wang Y, Huang S, Liu S, Zhou Z, Zhang S, et al. Multicenter cohort study demonstrates more consolidation in upper lungs on initial CT increases the risk of adverse clinical outcome in COVID-19 patients. Theranostics. 2020; 10(12):5641-8. [DOI:10.7150/thno.46465] [PMID]
- Li X, Fang X, Bian Y, Lu J. Comparison of chest CT findings between COVID-19 pneumonia and other types of viral pneumonia: A two-center retrospective study. Eur Radiol. 2020; 30(10):5470-8. [DOI:10.1007/s00330-020-06925-3] [PMID]
- Khaniabadi YO, Fanelli R, De Marco A, Daryanoosh SM, Kloog I, Hopke PK, et al. Hospital admissions in Iran for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases attributed to the Middle Eastern Dust storms. Environ Sci Pollut Res. 2017; 24(20):16860-8. [DOI:10.1007/s11356-017-9298-5] [PMID]
- Marchi G, Bozzini C, Bertolone L, Dima F, Busti F, Castagna A, et al. Red Blood Cell Morphologic Abnormalities in Patients Hospitalized for COVID-19. Front Physiol. 2022; 13:932013. [DOI:10.3389/fphys.2022.932013] [PMID]
- Brancaleoni V, Di Pierro E, Motta I, Cappellini MD. Laboratory diagnosis of thalassemia. Int J Lab Hematol. 2016; 38(Suppl. 1):32-40. [DOI:10.1111/ijlh.12527] [PMID]
- Asan A, Üstündağ Y, Koca N, Şimşek A, Sayan HE, Parildar H, et al. Do initial hematologic indices predict the severity of covid-19 patients? Turk J Med Sci. 2021; 51(1):39-44. [DOI:10.3906/sag-2007-97] [PMID]
- Joob B, Wiwanitkit V. Blood viscosity of COVID-19 patient: A preliminary report. Am J Blood Res. 2021; 11(1):93-5. [PMID]
- Bogomol’tsev BP DA. [Clinical implications of impaired microcirculation and hemodynamics in acute respiratory viral infections and their pharmacological correction (Russian)]. Klin Med (Mosk). 2003; 81(5):9-15. [PMID]
- Li N, Jia Y, Feng J, Chang H, Li S. Changes in the levels of WBC count, PCT, CRP and ESR in Patients with acute Community-acquired Lower Respiratory tract infections and their diagnostic value. Pak J Med Sci. 2024; 40(3):405-9. [DOI:10.12669/pjms.40.3.7699] [PMID]
- Wu J, Pan J, Teng D, Xu X, Feng J, Chen YC. Interpretation of CT signs of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pneumonia. Eur Radiol. 2020; 30(10):5455-62. [DOI:10.1007/s00330-020-06915-5] [PMID]
- Liang T, Liu Z, Wu CC, Jin C, Zhao H, Wang Y, et al. Evolution of CT findings in patients with mild COVID-19 pneumonia. Eur Radiol. 2020; 30(9):4865-73. [DOI:10.1007/s00330-020-06823-8] [PMID]
- Wang D, Hu B, Hu C, Zhu F, Liu X, Zhang J, et. Clinical characteristics of 138 hospitalized patients with 2019 novel coronavirus-infected pneumonia in Wuhan, China. JAMA. 2020; 323(11):1061-9. [DOI:10.1001/jama.2020.1585] [PMID]
- Elmokadem AH, Bayoumi D, Abo-Hedibah SA, El-Morsy A. Diagnostic performance of chest CT in differDiagnostic performance of chest CT in differentiating COVID-19 from other causes of ground-glass opacitiesentiating COVID-19 from other causes of ground-glass opacities. Egypt J Radiol Nucl Med. 2021; 52(12):1-10. [DOI:10.1186/s43055-020-00398-6]
- Barbosa CS, Chaves GWOG, de Oliveira CV, Bachion GH, Chi CK, Cerri GG, et al. COVID-19 pneumonia in the emergency department: correlation of initial chest CT findings with short-term outcome. Emerg Radiol. 2020; 27(6):691-9.[DOI:10.1007/s10140-020-01863-5] [PMID]
- Baeis MG, Mozafari A, Movaseghi F, Yadollahzadeh M, Sohrabi A, Afsharpad M, et al. The Crazy-Paving Pattern in Chest CT Imaging of COVID-19 Patients: An Alarming Sign for Hospitalization. Iran J Radiol. 2021; 18(2):e113286. [DOI:10.5812/iranjradiol.113286]
|