COVID-19 and comorbidities: Predictors, clinical course, relationship with diseaseseverity, and outcome

Aim: COVID-19 disease has a broad spectrum ranging from asymptomatic course to death. While data showthat the prognosis of the disease will be poor in the presence of comorbidity, we witness the death of patientswith no comorbidities in our clinical practice. This study aimed to investigate the effect of comorbidity on theclinical course and mortality of COVID-19 pneumonia. Methods: 155 Rt-PCR (+) adult patients hospitalized at İzzet Baysal State Hospital (Bolu, Turkey) diagnosedwith severe and critical pneumonia between August 2020 and February 2021 were included in this single center, retrospective study. The patients were divided into two groups with and without comorbidity, comparedthe severity of inflammation parameters, radiological involvement, and oxygen requirement, and evaluatedtheir effects on mortality and hospitalization duration. Results: There was no significant difference in the severity of the computed tomography (CT) involvement,the oxygen requirement, inflammation markers, and duration of hospitalization in patients with comorbiditiescompared to those without. When we evaluated the patients with comorbidities in general and their subgroups,the relationship with mortality was not significant. The severity of CT involvement, high oxygen requirement,and inflammation markers such as lymphocyte, lymphocyte ratio, LDH, CRP, troponin, ferritin levels werefound to be associated with mortality.Conclusions: In this study, we found that the presence of comorbidity did not affect mortality and durationof stay and that the severity of radiological involvement, the severity of hypoxemia, and the increase ininflammation markers were the determinants of mortality.