Venous blood gas analysis in patients with COVID-19 symptoms in the early assessment of virus positivity

Objectives Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is currently a worldwide major health threat. Recognizing hypoxia in patients early on can have a considerable effect on therapy success and survival rate. Methods We collected data using a standard blood gas analyzer from 50 patients and analyzed measurements of partial pressure of carbon dioxide-pCO2, partial pressure of oxygen-pO2 and oxygen saturation-sO2, bicarbonate concentrations-HCO3− as well as ionized calcium concentrations. We further examined PCR test results for SARS-CoV-2 of the patients and analyzed differences between patients tested positive and those tested negative for the virus. Results Venous pCO2 was significantly higher whereas pO2 and sO2 were significantly lower in patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The pH, and ionized calcium concentrations of patients tested positive for the virus were significantly lower than in those tested negative. Conclusions Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2-positive patients upon admission to the emergency room exhibit lower venous blood levels of oxygen, pH, and calcium and higher levels of carbon dioxide compared to symptomatic SARS-CoV-2-negative patients. This blood gas analysis constellation could help in identifying SARS-CoV-2-positive patients more rapidly and identifying early signs of hypoxia.