RESULTS
Females accounted for 50.2 % of the our patients and their mean age was
47.98 ± 14.81 (19-88) years. 14.3% (n: 45) of the individuals were 65
years of age and older, 34.3% (n: 108) had no findings in their lung
computed tomography (CT) and chest X-rays. 20.6% (n: 65) of our
patients were smoking and 70.2% (n: 221) of our patients were treated
at home. 133 patients had at least one comorbid disease. Hypertension
(HT) was determined in 43 patients, asthma was determined in 29
patients, diabetes mellitus (DM) was determined in 25 patients, coronary
artery disease (CAD) was determined in 15 patients, chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD) was determined in 12 patients, neurological
disease was determined in 7 patients, a history of malignancy was
determined in 7 patients (2 patients with lung cancer , 3 patients with
thyroid cancer, 1 patient with brain cancer, 1 patient with
osteosarcoma), hypothyroidism was determined in 5 patients,
rheumatological disease was determined in 4 patients, renal failure 3
patients and bronchiectasis was determined in 3 patients. In addition to
treatment with Favipiravir and/or Hydroxychloroquine, 47 patients
received empiric antibiotic therapy, 33 patients received corticosteroid
therapy and 23 patients received both antibiotic and corticosteroid
therapy. 119 patients received prophylactic enoxaparin and 4 patients
received enoxaparin at the therapeutic dose.
General characteristics of the study group are presented in Table 1.
When the symptoms of the study group were evaluated, while 7% (n: 22)
of the subjects were asymptomatic in the first part of the study, 27.3%
(n: 86) of the subjects were found to be asymptomatic in the 1-month
period (p<0.001). It was found that the symptoms of fever,
myalgia, diarrhea, dyspnea, cough, loss of taste and smell and sore
throat decreased within 1 month of the first period when the contrast of
the two periods was examined (Table 2). The symptom distribution of the
study group by period is shown in Table 2.
The median lymphocyte percent was 26.00 (17.75-33.50) in the first part
of the analysis, and 27.00 (21.20-34.20) in the calculation one month
later, when certain laboratory values of the study group were analyzed,
and there was no difference between the two times. On the other hand,
although the values of neutrophils, neutrophils/lymphocytes (NLR) and
C-reactive proteins (CRP) decreased over time, the values of platelets
and D-dimers increased (Table 3). The distribution of such laboratory
values by time is shown in Table 3.
In our study, no statistically significant difference was found between
age, gender and smoking status (p>0.005 for each) when the
distribution of individuals with persistent symptoms was examined after
1 month. It was determined that the symptoms had persisted in patients
who had been hospitalized, had dual therapy, had comorbid diseases and
had more common pathologies in their pulmonary imagings (Table 4).
182 patients had no comorbidities, 115 of those without comorbidity
continued to have symptoms in the first month. 114 of those with
comorbid diseases continued to have symptoms in the first month. Table 4
describes the distribution of general characteristics of the study group
according to the occurrence of symptoms after 1 month.
Although there were no symptoms in 7 patients received antibiotic
therapy and in 1 patient received antibiotic and corticosteroid therapy
in the first month, all patients received corticosteroid therapy had at
least one symptom in the first month (p<0.001).
Initial D-dimer, initial CRP and the values of platelet, D dimer and CRP
in the first month were detected to be higher in patients with
persistens symptoms when the laboratory values of patients whose
symptoms continue after 1 month were examined. No difference was found
between the values of initial Neutrophil%, Lymphocyte% and NLR and the
first month (Table 5).
The distribution of laboratory values for the study group based on the
presence of symptoms after 1 month is shown in Table 5.
When the laboratory values of the individuals according to the treatment
received in our study were examined; only those receiving
hydroxychloroquine had lower initial D-dimer, 1st month lymphocyte and
1st month D-dimer levels, whereas those undergoing dual therapy had
higher 1st month CRP levels. (Table 6). In the subgroup analysis, no
statistically difference was found in the initial and 1st month NLR
values. The distribution of laboratory values by treatment received by
the research group is shown in Table 6.