Document Type : Original Articles
Authors
1
Assistant Professor of Department Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran
2
Ph.D in Medical Education, Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran
3
Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran
4
Assistant Professor of Cardiology, Department of Cardiology, Zabol University of Medical, Sciences, Zabol, Iran
5
Department of Pathology, School of Medicine Zabol University of Medical Sciences,
6
Department of Basic Sciences, School of Medicine Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran
10.22092/ari.2025.367422.3389
Abstract
The clinical symptoms of COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 pulmonary infections are very similar. This study aimed to differentiate between these patients by evaluating laboratory criteria and abnormalities in CT scans. The medical records of 200 patients between February 2020 and February 2021 were analyzed. Some of our findings in the COVID-19 group compared to the non-COVID-19 group included an increase in red blood cell counts (RBCs), corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean hematocrit (HCT), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR), and Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (PLR). Additionally, the COVID-19 group had a lower mean corpuscular volume (MCV) of 80 femtoliters (fL) and mean cell hemoglobin (MCH) below 36. The symptoms of pulmonary infection were mostly bilateral in the COVID-19 group, whereas in the non-COVID-19 group, they were predominantly unilateral. 21.6% of patients had 5 to 10 lesions, while 24.7% of the non-COVID-19 group had fewer than 3 lesions. The COVID-19 group showed a distribution of both peripheral and diffuse lesions, whereas the non-COVID-19 group had predominantly peripheral distribution. Linear opacity and ground-glass opacity (GGO) were observed in 10 (6.2%) and 40 (24.7%) individuals in the COVID-19 group, and 13 (8%) and 32 (19.8) individuals in the non-COVID-19 group, respectively. Twenty-one (13%) COVID-19 patients and 16 (9.9%) non-COVID-19 patients exhibited a septal thickening index. Moreover, fine reticular opacity index, crazy paving patterns, and pleural effusion were observed in 6 (3.7%), 19 (11.7%), and 8 (4.9%) of the COVID-19 patients, and 20 (12.3%), 24 (14.8%), and 18 (11.1%) of the non-COVID-19 patients, respectively. Finally, this study concluded that laboratory indices such as MCV, and CT scan findings such as septal thickening are very beneficial for distinguishing between these two groups.
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