Diagnostic and Prognostic Value of Routine Blood Tests in Patients with COVID-19 in Iran, Tehran

Routine blood testing consists of Complete Blood Count (CBC) indices together with Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP) which have significant roles in both diagnosis and prognosis of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).  A total number of 942 COVID-19 patients and 400 healthy persons as the control group were enrolled in this study. All patients were admitted to a single center and were divided into two groups according to disease severity (severe or non-severe). Routine laboratory findings of peripheral blood sample were collected and then analyzed.  Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) had the highest sensitivity and specificity value for COVID-19 diagnosis. Among patients with different severities of COVID-19, the amount of neutrophil, NLR, platelet, hemoglobin, Red cell Distribution Width (RDW) and total bilirubin was significantly different (p<0.01).  Some indices of complete blood count and comprehensive metabolic panel have diagnostic and prognostic roles in COVID-19 patients, which are helpful in early diagnosis, predicting severity and adverse outcomes of patients with COVID-19.