Medical treatment of 55 patients with COVID-19 from seven cities in northeast China who fully recovered: a single-center, retrospective, observational study

Lichao Fan; Chang Liu; Na Li; Huan Liu; Ye Gu; Yongyu Liu; Yu Chen

We performed a single-center, retrospective, and observational study at Shenyang Sixth People's Hospital (Shenyang, Liaoning, China), a government-designated centralized medical facility for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 in Liaoning Province. All patients were from hospitals that received patients for initial COVID-19 treatment in seven cities in Liaoning Province, including Shenyang Chest Hospital. According to the Interim Guidelines issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) on January 12, 2020, 3 patient throat swabs and sputum samples were collected and subjected to a nucleic acid (RNA) test for COVID-19. We included all 55 consecutive patients with COVID-19 who were treated between January 20 and March 15, 2020; none were excluded. Patients were considered the 'mild' group (mild/moderate), whereas those were considered the 'severe' group (severe/critical); these classifications were according to the criteria stated in the COVID-19 Diagnosis and Treatment Plan issued by the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China. 2 The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Shenyang Chest Hospital (approval number: KYXM-2020-001-01) and was also documented by the Ethics Committee of the Shenyang Sixth People's Hospital. Written informed consent forms were waived owing to the rapid development of the infectious COVID-19 disease.