• Kaleem Ullah Toori, Muhammad Arsalan Qureshi, and Asma Chaudhry.
• Dr. Dr. Kaleem Ullah Toori, FRCP (Glasgow). Department of Medicine, KRL Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan.
• Pak J Med Sci. 2021 Nov 1; 37 (7): 1984-1988.

ObjectiveTo detect association of lymphopenia with disease severity and mortality.MethodsTotal 874 COVID RT-PCR positive patients admitted to KRL Hospital Islamabad from April 2020 to August 2020 were included in this cross-sectional study. Lymphopenia was defined as <1100 cells/micro-L. WHO categories for disease severity were used. Demographic profile, absolute lymphocyte counts and co-morbidities were recorded. Pearson's Chi Square test was used to see association between lymphopenia and disease severity as well as disease outcome. Regression analysis was used to see whether lymphopenia would predict disease severity. Comparison of means of absolute lymphocyte count in different disease categories was done by ANOVA. Tukey's test range was then used to find the means different from each other. P-value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsThe mean age of patients was 40 ± 12.3 years. Majority patients (73.9%) were asymptomatic. Lymphopenia was present in 6.9% of total patients. Significant association was found between lymphopenia and disease severity as well as lymphopenia and mortality (< 0.001). Lymphopenia was found to be a predictor of disease severity using regression analysis (< 0.001). Comparison of mean absolute lymphocyte count was significant among disease severity categories (< 0.001). On post-hoc analysis, difference in absolute lymphocyte count was significant moving from asymptomatic to mild and then moderate disease category. However no significant difference was seen in absolute lymphocyte count between moderate and severe categories.ConclusionResults are compatible with worldwide studies and lymphopenia is valid as a marker of disease severity and mortality.Copyright: © Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences.

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