Clinical Characteristics of 55 Cases of Deaths with COVID-19 Pneumonia in Wuhan, China: Retrospective Case Series

Background: With the widespread outbreak of (novel coronavirus disease 2019 ) COVID-19, more and more death cases were reported, however, limited data are available for the patients who died. We aimed to explore the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of deaths with COVID-19 pneumonia. Methods: This is a single-center retrospective study. We abstracted and analyzed epidemiological, demographic, clinical, and laboratory data from death cases with COVID-19 pneumonia in East hospital of Wuhan university Renmin hospital,between January 26, 2020, and February 18, 2020. Findings: 55 of all 845(6.5%) patients with COVID-19 pneumonia died in hospital. None of the 55 deaths were the medical staff. Of the 55 patients, the mean age of the deaths was 70.7 years (SD 13.5; range, 22-92 years) and 37 (67%) were male. The median from onset to admission was 10 days (IQR 7-14: range, 2-43 days), to death was 16 days (IQR 14-21: range, 6-54 days). Most deaths (43 [78%]) had underlying comorbid diseases, the most of which were hypertension[33(60%)]. The main initial symptoms of these 55 deaths were fever (96%), shortness of breath (96%) and myalgia or fatigue (93%). Laboratory analyses showed the lymphocytopenia in 50 (91%) deaths, hypoalbuminemia in 50(91%) deaths, the elevation of lactate dehydrogenase in 51 (93%) deaths, procalcitonin in 46 (84%) deaths and C-reactive protein in 49 (89%) deaths. All 55 patients received antiviral treatment, 53(96.4%) deaths received antibiotic therapy, and 35(63.6%) deaths received glucocorticoid therapy and 12(21.8%) patients received invasive mechanical ventilation. Interpretation: Most of the patients who died with COVID-19 pneumonia were elderly patients with underlying comorbid diseases, especially those over 70 years of age. The time of death was mostly 15-21 days after the onset of the disease. Major gaps in our knowledge of risk factors for poor prognosis and mortality need fulfillment by future studies.Funding Statement: No funding was received for this study.Declaration of Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.Ethics Approval Statement: This study protocol complied with the Medical Ethical Committee of Wuhan University Renmin hospital (No.WDYR2020-k050). Written informed consent was waived due to the rapid emergence of this infectious disease.