• Teresa Balboa-Castillo, Ximena Ossa, Sergio Muñoz, Jaime Neira, Arturo Padilla, Mario Oñat, Javier Briones, and Carla Concha.
• Departamento de Salud Pública, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile.
• Rev Med Chil. 2021 Nov 1; 149 (11): 1552-1560.

BackgroundThe Araucania region in Chile had the greatest COVID-19 incidence and lethality in Chile Aim: To describe the clinical characteristics and evolution of patients admitted for COVID-19 in a high complexity Hospital in the region of La Araucanía-Chile.Material And MethodsReview of medical records of the first 169 patients aged 55 ± 17 years (50% women) admitted for COVID-19 between march and may, 2020 at a regional hospital in Temuco Chile.ResultsThe most common comorbidities of these patients were hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. The symptom triad of cough, dyspnea and fever was present in 85%. Less frequent symptoms were diarrhea and vomiting. Biomarkers at admission such as ferritin, D-dimer, among others, were significantly higher among patients who required admission to the Intensive Care Unit. The presence of cough, dyspnea and fever were significantly associated with longer hospitalization time and requirement for mechanical ventilation. Hypertension and obesity were significantly associated with longer hospitalization stay. Eight percent of patients died.ConclusionsSymptoms such as cough, dyspnea and fever and specific biomarkers on admission were associated with a worse evolution of adult inpatients with COVID-19.

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