Demographic, clinical, laboratory, radiological, and outcome features of possible and definitive COVID-19 patients followed in Sivas Cumhuriyet University Pandemic Clinic, in Turkey.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the epidemiological, clinical, laboratory, and radiological characteristics of 63 possible and definite COVID-19 patients who were followed up and treated in Sivas Cumhuriyet University Pandemic Clinic in April and May, 2020. Method: In this retrospective study, the diagnosis and treatment of the patients were made according to the Turkish Ministry of Health COVID-19 guidelines. Patients' age, gender, underlying diseases, routine blood tests, SARS-CoV-2 PCR test results, clinical characteristics, treatments and radiological findings of the patients were taken from the patient files. Results: The age range of 63 patients was 18-87 years, and the mean age was 43 years. 37 patients (58.7%) were male, and 26 (41.3%) were female. 25 patients had positive PCR test for SARS CoV-2. PCR negativity developed on the 3rd day at the earliest and the 20th day at the latest, with an average of 10 days. In 2 patients, the fluctuation was observed in the process of negativity of the PCR test. It was seen that the most complaint was cough and second one was shortness of breath. It was remarkable that most of our patients did not have a high fever. Of the patients, the mean white blood cell count was 6,663 and the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio was average 2.25. In 49 patients (77.8%), lung lesions were detected with chest CT. The most common finding we detected with chest CT was bilateral multiple ground-glass areas. Hydroxychloroquine treatment was given to 90% of the patients. In addition to the standard treatment, 3.1% of the patients were given Favipiravir treatment. Conclusions: In this study, epidemiological, clinical, laboratory and radiological characteristics of 63 COVID-19 cases followed in Sivas province were reported. Global collaboration and sharing data and experiences on COVID-19 is essential to managing the current pandemic process in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]