Hematology findings in patients with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

In December 2019, Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province in China, became the center of an outbreak of pneumonia with unknown etiology. By 7 January 2020, Chinese scientists have isolated a new coronavirus from patients with viral infectious pneumonia, the Coronavirus 2 Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV-2), previously called 2019-nCoV. The disease was later diagnosed as coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) in February 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO). Although the outbreak primarily originated from a zoonotic transmission, it soon became evident that human-to-human contact was spreading efficiently. The clinical manifestation of SARS-CoV-2 infection has a broad spectrum, ranging from asymptomatic infection, a relatively mild disease of the upper respiratory tract, to severe viral pneumonia with respiratory failure and even death. Lymphopenia, thrombocytopenia, and coagulation disorders are some of the conditions that develop in severe cases and are associated with poor prognosis. It is speculated that impaired coagulation time and elevated D-dimer levels in severe cases may require anticoagulant therapy. The present study aimed to address some of the most critical hematology findings related to the disease, which have key roles in prognosis and management of the treatment process.