Clinical characterictics and treatments modalities of patients with COVID-19 infection during the early phase of the epidemic: A single-center from Turkey

Abstract

Objective: The emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 is a major healthcare threat. We aimed to assist in the management of coronavirus disease 2019 infection and contribute to the literature so the hospitals may find the information about our strategies useful in their efforts to reduce the challenges they are facing in this retrospective single-center study. Methods: We analyzed the data of 1260 laboratory or radiologically confirmed hospitalized cases with coronavirus disease 2019 infection to determine the clinical and epidemiological characteristics. An infectious and a chest disease physician followed all the cases and recorded demographic data, clinical signs, treatment, laboratory, and radiological findings. Results: The mean age of the patients was 51.96 years old, and 665 (52.7%) were male. The most commonly experienced symptoms at the onset of illness were cough, shortness of breath, myalgia, and fever. Most patients showed normal leucocytes counts, lymphopenia, elevated levels of C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, ferritin, lactate dehydrogenase, and creatine kinase. Conclusion: Recognizing the changing treatment modalities is especially important for the management of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.