Clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in patients hospitalized in the University Hospital for Infectious Diseases "Dr. Fran Mihaljević" during the first wave of the epidemic

Koronavirusna bolest 2019 (COVID-19, od engl. coronavirus disease 2019) je bolest uzrokovana novim koronavirusom (SARS-CoV-2, od engl. severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) koji se pojavio u prosincu 2019. godine u Kini, a početkom 2020. godine se proširio po cijelom svijetu, zbog čega je Svjetska zdravstvena organizacija proglasila pandemiju. Prvi slučaj u Republici Hrvatskoj zabilježen je 25. veljače 2020. od kada je u Hrvatskoj registrirano preko 359 000 oboljelih. Cilj ovog rada je ispitati klinička obilježja COVID-19 kod bolesnika hospitaliziranih u Klinici za infektivne bolesti „Dr. Fran Mihaljević“ u Zagrebu u prvom valu epidemije 2020. godine. Provedeno je retrospektivno istraživanje kohorte bolesnika hospitaliziranih u Klinici s infekcijom SARS-CoV-2 virusom, koja je etiološki potvrđena pozitivnim nalazom RT-PCR na SARS-CoV-2. U istraživanje su uključeni svi bolesnici hospitalizirani tijekom prvog vala epidemije, između 25. veljače i 18. lipnja 2020. Demografske, epidemiološke i kliničke podatke dobili smo iz povijesti bolesti. Tijekom istraživanog razdoblja u Klinici je hospitalizirano 175 bolesnika zbog COVID-19, od čega 110 (62,8%) muškaraca. Svi bolesnici bili su stariji od 18 godina s medijanom 59 godina (raspon dobi 22–99 godina). Ukupno 110 (62,9%) bolesnika imalo je jedan ili više komorbiditeta. Blagi oblik bolesti imalo je 24 (13,7%) bolesnika, srednje teški oblik 33 (18,9%) bolesnika, teški oblik 54 (30,9%) bolesnika, a kritični oblik 63 (36,0%) bolesnika. Potrebu za liječenjem u jedinici intenzivnog liječenja imalo je 33 (18,9%) bolesnika, potrebu za terapiju kisikom 104 (59,4%) bolesnika 39 (22,3%) je mehanički ventilirano, a 11 (6,3%) je liječeno hemodijalizom. Terapiju hidroksiklorokinom primilo je 59 (22,3%), glukokortikoidima 11 (6,3%), lopinavir/ritonavirom 12 (6,9%) i azitromicinom 8 (4,6%) bolesnika. Zbog COVID-19 umro je 21 (12%) od 175 hospitaliziranih bolesnika.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that first appeared in December 2019 in China and spread across the world by the beginning of 2020, urging the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic. The first case in the Republic of Croatia was documented on February 25th, 2020. So far over 359,000 patients with COVID-19 were reported in Croatia. The goal of this study was to examine the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the University Hospital for Infectious Diseases „Dr. Fran Mihaljević“ in Zagreb during the first wave of the epidemic in 2020. A retrospective study was conducted on the cohort of patients hospitalized with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, confirmed with a positive RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2. The research included all those hospitalized during the first wave of the epidemic, between February 25th and June 18th, 2020. The demographic, epidemiologic and clinical data was obtained from the patients' medical charts. During the study period, 175 patients with COVID-19 were hospitalized of whom 110 (62.8%) were men. All patients were over 18 years old with a median age of 59 (range 22–99) years. A total of 110 (62.9%) patients had one or more comorbidities. A mild form of the disease was registered in 24 (13.7%) patients, moderate in 33 (18.9%), severe in 54 (30.9%) and critical in 63 (36.0%) patients. Admission to the intensive care unit was required in 33 (18.9%) patients while 104 (59.4%) patients required oxygen therapy, 39 (22.3%) mechanical ventilation and 11 (6.3%) haemodialysis. Treatment with hydroxychloroquine was administered to 59 (22.3%) patients, glucocorticoids to 11 (6.3%), lopinavir/ritonavir to 12 (6.9%) and azithromycin to 8 (4.6%) patients. Among 175 hospitalized patients 21 (12%) died due to COVID-19