Covid-19: A Review of the Impacts and Implications on Haematology and Haematological Parameters
Publication Date: 06/07/2020
Author(s): Dr. Nwagu Marcellinus Uchechukwu, Dr. Adeyemi Oluwafemi, Prof. Omoti Caroline Edijana.
Volume/Issue: Volume 3 , Issue 2 (2020)
Abstract:
Background: Coronavirus disease is a viral disease which originated from China in late 2019 and has spread to the entire surface of the earth. The clinical symptoms are usually due to the effect on the respiratory system which is the main target of the infection. This review is to find out the effect of the disease on Haematology and haematological parameters. Materials and methods: A review based on theoretical and empirical literature was done through internet search engines such as Google, Pubmed, Medline, Journals and books. The literature search spans 2003-2020. Results: A total of 103 publications were reviewed. Most of them were international articles. The review revealed that not much has been published on the effect of covid-19 on Haematology in general and the haematological parameters in particular. The main findings include lymphopenia, increased neutrohil lymphocyte ratio and thrombocytopenia. The Anti-thrombin (AT) levels were found to be lower in covid-19 patients compared to their healthy controls. D-dimer and FDP were elevated and found to be especially predictive of disease progression. Transfusion of convalescent plasma has shown improvement of clinical symptoms and laboratory parameters within few days after the transfusion. Conclusion: There is quite some level of impact of covid-19 on Haematology and haematological parameters, just as it also affects other systems, and specialties/sub-specialties. However, there is room for more research in determining more extensive involvement of the disease on haematological parameters.
