Hematologic and Computed Tomography Features for Discriminating COVID-19 From Non-COVID-19 Pneumonia.

Introduction: The clinical symptoms of COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 pulmonary infections are very similar. This study aimed to differentiate between these groups of patients by evaluating laboratory criteria and abnormalities in CT scans. Materials & Methods: The medical records of 200 patients referred to Amir Hospital in Zabol were analyzed between February 2020 to February 2021. Some of our findings in the COVID-19 group, compared to the non-COVID-19 group, included increase in red blood cell counts (RBCs), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean hematocrit (HCT), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR). Results: 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. In total, 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 a 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 in 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 septal thickening. Moreover, fine reticular opacities, 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 in 20(12.3%), 24(14.8%), and 18(11.1%) of the non-COVID-19 patients, respectively. Conclusion: 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.