Results
Of the 289 patients in this study, the median age was 57 years (range, 22 - 88) and 155 (53.4%) patients were male. As of the final follow-up date of this study, 240 (83.0%) patients were discharged from the hospital and 49 (17.0%) patients died. Elder age, more underlying comorbidities, and increased laboratory variables such as leucocyte count, neutrophil count, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), D-dimer, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) on admission were found in survived severe cases, compared to non-severe cases. According to the multivariate logistic regression analysis, elder age, a greater number of affected lobe(s), elevated CRP levels on admission and increased prevalence of chest tightness/dyspnea and smoking history were the independent risk factors for the death of severe patients. A trajectory in PCA from ”non-severe” towards ”non-survived” via ”severe & survived” patients was observed. Strong correlations between the age of patients, the affected lobe number(s) and laboratory variables were identified. Dynamic changes of laboratory findings of survived severe cases and non-survived cases during hospital stay showed that continuing increase of leucocytes and neutrophil count, sustained lymphopenia and eosinopenia, progressing decrease in platelet count, as well as high levels of NLR, CRP, PCT, AST, BUN and serum creatinine were associated with in-hospital death.