Diagnostic study
Nasal and pharyngeal swabs were analyzed for COVID-19 infection via quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). COVID-19 was diagnosed and treated based on the World Health Organization (WHO) interim standards and the Turkish Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 Diagnosis and Treatment Program (4-6).
The study population was divided into three groups, based on the Turkish Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 guide: (1) hospitalized patients with severe clinical conditions such as oxygen saturation below 90% breathing room air, bilateral diffuse pulmonary infiltrates, and tachypnoea (30/min); (2) out-patient follow-up of participants with a mild clinical condition (7).
Patients underwent routine blood testing, chemical, and immunological investigations, and chest CT scanning to establish the COVID-19 severity. A serial chest CT scan was then conducted every other day to track illness progression and therapy success.
Chest computed tomography (CT) scans were accomplished using a particular inspiratory period in a commercial multi-detector CT scanner (Optima CT540, GE Healthcare, USA). Patients were told to hold their breath to reduce artifacts and motion. The following settings were used to create computed tomography images: tube voltage of 100–120 kVp; effective tube current of 110–250 mAs; detector collimation of 0.625 mm; slice thickness of 1 mm; slice interval of 1 mm.
In our hospital’s laboratory, blood samples were tested using normal methods. A standard approach was used to evaluate blood samples. Vacuum tubes were used to collect venous blood samples for hematological and biochemical analysis. The sample was centrifuged for 10 minutes at 3000 RPM after the blood had coagulated. The tubes containing K3-EDTA were utilized to investigate the complete blood count (CBC). An automated hematological analyzer was used to determine the quantity of CBC parameters (XT2000i, Sysmex, Osaka, Japan ). Biochemical and hematological tests were performed on a 15 mL sample of peripheral blood. After centrifugation at 3000 rpm, serum was extracted and kept at -20°C until analysis. The VITROS 5600 Integrated Immunodiagnostic System was used to examine serum biochemistry (VITROS 5600, Johnson, New Jersey, USA ).