An early prognosis factor that could be a key to determining who will suffer greater effects from COVID-19, and help clinicians better prepare for these patients.
In a new study, researchers developed a new simple blood test that can help achieve this.
The research was conducted by a team at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).
The severity of COVID-19 infections can range from little or no symptoms for some patients to fighting for their lives in the intensive care unit (ICU) for others. Little is known about what causes these differences.
Because of the uncertainty surrounding the implications of this virus, there needed to be a prognostic factor that could aid hospital workers in managing COVID-19.
In this study, the team discovered evidence of a relationship between lymphocytopenia and disease severity that could really help clinicians prepare for critically ill patients.
Lymphocytopenia is the condition of having an abnormally low level of white blood cells, called lymphocytes, which are key components of the immune system.
Using a cohort of 57 patients from a local Houston hospital, the researchers analyzed basic, clinical, and laboratory data from a simple blood draw and found that patients who were admitted into an ICU showed signs of lymphocytopenia compared to patients who were not in the ICU.
The team says lymphocytopenia is known to be common in many viral illnesses, in particular other coronaviruses including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).
However, few studies have determined if lymphocytopenia found at the time of admission to the hospital is helpful in understanding the course of the disease.
The team found at the time of hospital admission, patients who ended up in the ICU had lymphocytopenia in comparison to those not needing ICU admission.
This shows that blood lymphocyte count could be a predictive marker in identifying who may be admitted into the ICU and suffer severe implications.
Additionally, the researchers found that patients with lymphocytopenia were more likely to develop an acute kidney injury (AKI) during admission.
Mortality rates are higher in patients who have both COVID-19 and AKI compared to those without AKI.
The findings show that lymphocytopenia may serve as a prognostic marker for AKI in patients with COVID-19.
One author of the study is Ahmad Farooq, MD, an assistant professor of gastroenterology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth.
The study is published in the International Journal of Laboratory Hematology.
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