Introduction:

Upon appearance of the first COVID-19 cases in Cuba, early identification of patients at risk of developing severe forms of the disease became a necessity.

Objective:

Describe the clinical behavior of COVID-19 in patients admitted to Pedro Kourí Tropical Medicine Institute and identify factors associated to severity.

Methods:

A presentation was made of the first 73 COVID-19 cases admitted to Pedro Kourí Tropical Medicine Institute from 11 March to 5 May 2020. The patients were divided into two groups: severe and mild disease. A comparison was made of clinical, demographic, laboratory and imaging variables at admission, and their possible association to disease severity.

Results:

Seven patients (9.6%) were critically ill; five died. Age > 60 years, more than one comorbidity, arterial hypertension and bronchial asthma were more common among critical patients. Fever for more than six days (p= 0.00), dyspnea (p= 0.00), presence of humid stertors (p= 0.00), respiratory rate > 24/min (p= 0.00) and lymphocytes < 0.8 x109/l (p= 0.00), ferritin > 500 µg/L (p =0.00), C-reactive protein 10 μg/l (p= 0.01) and LDH 500 U/l (p= 0.01) were related to disease severity. 18.2% of the chest radiographs showed alterations, with a predominance of bilateral foci of inflammatory condensation. The most common complications were respiratory distress, shock, bacterial sepsis and heart disorders.

Conclusions:

Some clinical and laboratory characteristics identifiable at admission may be associated to disease severity, which makes them useful for risk stratification and the appropriate management of patients.

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