Clinical Features and Predictors for Patients with Severe SARS-CoV-2 Pneumonia: a retrospective multicenter cohort study

Cao, C.; Chen, M.; Li, Y.; Yu, L.; Huang, W.; Qian, G.; Zhu, C.; Chu, J.; He, L.; Ma, J.; Chen, X.

Objectives: This study was performed to investigate clinical features of patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia and identify risk factors for converting to severe cases in those who had mild to moderate diseases. Methods: In this retrospective, multicenter cohort study, patients with mild to moderate SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia were included. Demographic data, symptoms, laboratory values, and clinical outcomes were collected. Data were compared between non-severe and severe patients. Results: 58 patients were included in the final analysis. Compared with non-severe cases, severe patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia had a longer: time to clinical recovery (p=0.0011), duration of viral shedding (p=0.0183), and hospital stay ( p=0.0211). Multivariate logistic regression indicated that lymphocyte count was significantly associated with the rate of converting to severe cases (odds ratio 1.28, 95%CI 1.06-1.54, per 0.1*10 9/L reduced; p=0.007), while using of low-to-moderate doses of systematic corticosteroids was associated with reduced likelihood of converting to a severe case (odds ratio 0.14, 95%CI 0.02-0.80; p=0.0275). Conclusions: The low peripheral blood lymphocyte count was an independent risk factor for SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia patients converting to severe cases. This finding may help clinicians more accurately predict prognosis, and triage priorities to improve clinical outcomes.