Abstract
Background: Evidence on routinely available biomarkers in patients with COVID-19 and pre-existing chronic airway disease is limited. This study examined admission eosinophil percentage and serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) across clinical severity groups.
Methods: Medical records of 39 adults with RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 and documented chronic airway disease admitted to a tertiary teaching hospital in Bengaluru, India, between May and August 2021 were reviewed. Patients were classified as mild, moderate, or severe according to the clinical criteria used by the institution. Admission laboratory variables were compared across severity groups. Reported one-way ANOVA statistics were reconstructed from the submitted summary data.
Results: Twelve patients had mild disease, 23 had moderate disease, and four had severe disease. Mean eosinophil percentage decreased progressively across the mild, moderate, and severe groups: 2.92 ± 1.38%, 1.74 ± 0.86%, and 0.25 ±0.50%, respectively F(2,36)=11.31,p=0.001. Mean LDH levels were 289.67 ± 170.92 U/L, 330.22 ± 160.97 U/L, and319.75 ± 103.01 U/L, respectively, with no significant difference among groups F(2,36)=0.25,p=0.77. Mean CRP differed significantly among severity groups (p=0.037), although the highest value was observed in the moderate group. All patients with mild or moderate disease were discharged, whereas all four patients with severe disease died during hospitalization.
Conclusion: Lower admission eosinophil percentage was associated with greater COVID-19 severity in this small retrospective cohort. LDH did not differ significantly by severity. Because only four severe cases were included and no predictive model was developed, the findings should be considered exploratory.
Keywords: Covid-19, Eosinophil, LDH