Published date: May 31 2020

Journal Title: Sudan Journal of Medical Sciences

Issue title: SJMS Special Issue 2020: Competing with COVID-19 in Sudan

Pages: 9-19

DOI: 10.18502/sjms.v15i5.7146

Almigdad H. M. AliAlmigdad.h.m@gmail.comFaculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Sudan

Sagad Omer Obeid MohamedFaculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Sudan

Ibrahim H. E. ElkhidirFaculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Sudan

Mohamed Elata Hassan ElbathaniFaculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Sudan

Abazr A. H. IbrahimFaculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Sudan

Almutasim B. E. ElhassanFaculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Sudan

Mohammed Suliman Tawer SalmanFaculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Sudan

Mazin A.M. ElhassanFaculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Sudan

Mahmoud ElnilFaculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Sudan

Abdelhamid Ibrahim Hassan AbuziedFaculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Sudan

Background: The rapid progression of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its increasing burden on health systems necessitate the identification of parameters of severe infection to help in monitoring, prognoses and development of treatment algorithms.

Objectives: This review aims to investigate the association of lymphocyte count, CRP, LDH, and D-Dimer with the severity of COVID-19.

Methods: This review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The databases of MEDLINE/PubMed, WHO-Virtual Health Library (VHL), and ScienceDirect were used for the systematic search. Random effects model was used to estimate the pooled standardized mean differences (SMD) with the corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI), using OpenMeta Analyst software.

Results: A total of 11 studies, with 2437 COVID-19 patients, which fulfilled the eligibility criteria were included in the meta-analysis. The analysis revealed that lymphocyte count was significantly lower in patients with the severe form of COVID-19 (SMD = - 1.025, P value <.001). Also, the analysis of SMD showed that patients with severe COVID-19 have a significantly higher serum levels of CRP (SMD = 3.363, P value <.001), D-Dimer (SMD = 1.073, P value <.001), and LDH (SMD = 3.345, P value <.001).

Conclusion: Low lymphocyte count and high levels of CRP, LDH, and D-Dimer are associated with severe COVID-19. These laboratory markers could be used as clinical indicators of worsening illness and poor prognosis of COVID-19.

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