Clinical and Laboratory Findings of COVID-19 in High-Altitude Inhabitants of Saudi Arabia

Frontiers in Medicine

article

Mostafa Abdelsalam¹  Zein S. Ibrahim³  Dalal M. Nemenqani⁴  Ahmed N. Alghamdi⁴  Daifullah Al Aboud⁴  Ahmed S. Abdel-Moneim⁴  Adnan A. Alsulaimani¹  Raad M. M. Althaqafi⁴  Sara A. Assiri⁴  Taghreed M. Althagafi⁵  Saleh M. Althagafi⁶  Ahmed Y. Fouda¹  Ahmed Ramadan¹  Mohammed Rabah¹  Reham M. Ahmed¹ 

[1] Alameen Hospital;Mansoura Nephrology and Dialysis Unit, Internal Medicine Department, College of Medicine, Mansoura University;Department of Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kafrelsheikh University;College of Medicine, Taif University;Internal Medicine Department, King Abdulaziz Hospital;General Department of Medical Services, Security Forces Hospital;Anesthesiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University;Radiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University;Albbassia Chest Hospital

关键词: COVID–19;    SARS-CoV-2;    high-altitude;    crp;    CO-RADS classification;    d-dimer;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmed.2021.670195

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Background: SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19, continues to cause a worldwide pandemic, with more than 147 million being affected globally as of this writing. People's responses to COVID-19 range from asymptomatic to severe, and the disease is sometimes fatal. Its severity is affected by different factors and comorbidities of the infected patients. Living at a high altitude could be another factor that affects the severity of the disease in infected patients. Methods: In the present study, we have analyzed the clinical, laboratory, and radiological findings of COVID-19-infected patients in Taif, a high-altitude region of Saudi Arabia. In addition, we compared matched diseased subjects to those living at sea level. We hypothesized that people living in high-altitude locations are prone to develop a more severe form of COVID-19 than those living at sea level. Results: Age and a high Charlson comorbidity score were associated with increased numbers of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and mortality among COVID-19 patients. These ICU admissions and fatalities were found mainly in patients with comorbidities. Rates of leukocytosis, neutrophilia, higher D-dimer, ferritin, and highly sensitive C-reactive protein (CRP) were significantly higher in ICU patients. CRP was the most independent of the laboratory biomarkers found to be potential predictors of death. COVID-19 patients who live at higher altitude developed a less severe form of the disease and had a lower mortality rate, in comparison to matched subjects living at sea level. Conclusion: CRP and Charlson comorbidity scores can be considered predictive of disease severity. People living at higher altitudes developed less severe forms of COVID-19 disease than those living at sea level, due to a not-yet-known mechanism.

【 授权许可】

CC BY