[Analysis of the first 100 patients with COVID-19 admitted to internal medicine wards at the Hospital de Clínicas José de San Martin, Buenos Aires University].

Ludueña, María Guillermina; Labato, Mariana; Chiaradia, Verónica; Yamuni, Juan; Finocchietto, Paola; Pisarevsky, Ana A

This retrospective descriptive study analyzes the clinical and epidemiological characteristics, the disease evolution and its association with laboratory markers of poor prognosis of the first 100 patients with COVID-19 admitted to internal medicine wards at the Hospital de Clínicas José de San Martín, University of Buenos Aires. Thirty-one patients were nursing home residents, the most common clinical manifestations were fever, cough and odynophagia. Regarding comorbidities, obesity was the most frequent one and hypertension was the most prevalent in patients with pneumonia. The most important predictors of mortality were age and pneumonia. Patients older than 70 years had higher acute phase reactants showing an exaggerated inflammatory response. Mortality was high (13%), compared to most reports (5%), probably because of the advanced age of our population and the unfavorable clinical conditions they presented at admission.