Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is characterized by high fever, sudden developing respiratory distress. The Purpose of this study is to identify the association of D-dimer levels and lymphocyte counts with poor prognosis and to predict the clinical course in patients with COVID-19.
Methods: A Total of 85 hospitalized children diagnosed with COVID 19 were included in the study. According to AIIMS guidelines, they were divided into two groups, one with severe disease (N=23) and other with non-severe disease which included mild to moderate cases (n=62), distinctive performance analysis of these values were performed and the cut off values were determined.
Results: A total of 85 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 were included in the final analysis. The mean age was 10 \(\pm\) 5 years and 45 (52.9%) were males. Lymphocyte count was found as statistically significantly low (p <0.001) while D-dimer level was statistically significantly higher in the group with severe disease (p <0.001). As for the effectiveness of lymphocyte count in distinguishing severe and non-severe patients with COVID-19 when cut-off score 1500/mm3 was taken, sensitivity was 30% and specificity was 77% and that of D-dimer when cut-off score 2 mg/L was taken, sensitivity was 22% and specificity was 50%. D-dimer level was found to have a significant discrimination power (AUC = 0.879, p < 0.0001,95% CI).
Conclusions: The lymphocyte value of \(\leq 1500/mm3\) and D-dimer value of \(\geq 2mg/L\) can be used in the early determination of patients with poor prognosis in COVID-19. Using these cut-off values for D-dimer and lymphocyte count will help predict prognosis and make rapid treatment decisions in patients with COVID-19.
