Evaluation of Epidemiological, Paraclinical, and Imaging Findings of Patients With ‎Covid-19 Hospitalized in Intensive Care Unit of Rasht Hospitals in March 2020

Background: Considering the high prevalence of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the medical resource constraints, a better understanding of the characteristics of the disease and identifying the factors indicating the severity of the disease‎ can help decide on the allocation of important and limited resources. The current study aimed to investigate the demographic, clinical, laboratory characteristics, and imaging features of critically-ill patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit )ICU) of 3 hospitals in Rash City, Iran. Objective: This retrospective study was performed on 138 patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to the ICU. The study patients’ data, including demographic characteristics, underlying disease, laboratory, imaging findings, and disease outcome were extracted from their records. Methods: This retrospective study was performed on 138 patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to ICU. Patient data, including demographic characteristics, underlying disease, laboratory and imaging findings, and disease outcomes, were extracted from patient records. Results: In this study, the majority of patients were male and in the age range of 55-69 years.  Diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and chronic heart disease were the most common underlying diseases; shortness of breath, fever, and cough were the most common symptoms. Ground glass opacities were the most common sign in lung Computer Tomography (CT) scan and an increase in the level of LDH, ESR, CRP, neutrophil percentage, and lymphopenia were the most common laboratory findings in the study subjects. The mortality rate was equal to 90.58%.  Conclusion: This study revealed that most patients with severe manifestations of the disease were older, had a history of underlying disease, symptoms of shortness of breath, cough, and fever, and extensive lung involvement in imaging and changes in laboratory results. Mortality remained high despite medical therapy and mechanical ventilation.