Clinical characteristics of a group of deaths with COVID-19 pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a retrospective case series

Abstract

Background With the widespread outbreak of novel coronavirus diseases 2019(COVID-19), more and more death cases were reported, however, limited data are available for the patients who died. We aimed to explore the clinical characteristics of deaths with COVID-19 pneumonia. Methods We abstracted and analyzed epidemiological, demographic, clinical, and laboratory data from 83 death cases with COVID-19 pneumonia in East Hospital of Wuhan University Renmin Hospital, between January 26, 2020, and February 28, 2020. Results Of the 83 deaths, none was the medical staff. The mean age was 71.8 years (SD 13.2; range, 34–97 years) and 53(63.9%) were male. The median from onset to admission was 10 days (IQR 7–14: range, 2–43 days), to death was 17 days (IQR 14–21: range, 6–54 days). Most deaths (66[80%]) had underlying comorbid diseases, the most of which was hypertension [47(57%)]. The main initial symptoms of these 83 deaths were shortness of breath(98.8%), fever(94%), and myalgia or fatigue(90.4%). Laboratory analyses showed the lymphocytopenia in 69(83%) deaths, hypoalbuminemia in 77(93%) deaths, the elevation of lactate dehydrogenase in 79(95%) deaths, procalcitonin in 69(83%) deaths and C-reactive protein in 79(95%) deaths. All 83 patients received antiviral treatment, 81(97.6%) deaths received antibiotic therapy, 54(65.1%) deaths received glucocorticoid therapy, and 20(24.1%) patients received invasive mechanical ventilation. Conclusion Most of the deaths with COVID-19 pneumonia were elderly patients with underlying comorbid diseases, especially those over 70 years of age. The time of death after the onset of the disease was mostly 15–21 days. More care should be given to the elderly in further prevention and control strategies of COVID-19.

Factors associated with COVID-19 length of hospitalization and mortality during four epidemic waves, March 2020–November 2021, Suriname

“…Most of the people who died were men, a finding that concurs with other studies ( 5 , 6 ). However, it should be noted that an increase in the number of women who died was seen in the third and fourth fatality waves.…”

“…Most deaths were reported in elderly people, who were more likely to develop acute respiratory distress syndrome and require mechanical ventilation. Studies in China and Brazil show that most deaths were in men, people aged 65 years and older, and those with with comorbidities ( 4 , 5 ). This higher mortality rate in men was also observed in Ecuador ( 6 ).…”

Characterization of antibody response in asymptomatic and symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection

“…This may introduce a bias. However, the ratio between deceased and recovered patients (7 out of 42, 16,6%) falls in the acceptable range (from 5.7% to 30.4%) described in the literature [ 18 , 43 ]. The retrospective nature of the study and the collection of COVID-19 samples carried out in a single center introduce some limitations.…”

The value of early positive nucleic acid test and negative conversion time of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the clinical outcome of COVID-19 patients

“…The condition of severe patients with COVID-19 is critical and can change rapidly (23). Our results demonstrated that the white blood cell count, neutrophil count, and lymphocyte count were signi cantly lower in the severe group than in the mild group, suggesting that early diagnosis and intervention are very important to reduce the risk of death caused by the tendency to severe condition transformation (24).…”