Patients and Study design:
A total of 164 patients participated in this study from March 5 to April
5, 2020. We divided the patients into two groups: 111 PCR positive
(67.6%) and 53 PCR negative patients (32.4%). CT scans were performed
before or at the time of admission for all symptomatic patients and all
CT scan results were compatible with COVID -19. The patients were
evaluated for symptoms, initial vital signs, comorbidity, clinical and
laboratory findings (CBC, biochemistry parameters, inflammation indices)
and date of symptoms’ onset before admission. Real-time reverse
transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed on
oropharyngeal specimens. In this study, all samples were tested within
48 hours after hospitalization and sampling was done using a standard
protocol by trained individuals.