Demographic, clinical and laboratory features of COVID-19 in children: The role of mean platelet volume in predicting the hospitalization and severity.

INTRODUCTION: There have been limited number of studies on COVID-19 in children. In this study, we aimed to investigate the demographic, clinical, and laboratory features of COVID-19 and to identify the role of mean platelet volume (MPV) in predicting the prognosis in children. METHODS: A single-center retrospective study, including 251 confirmed and 65 suspected COVID-19 cases, was conducted between March 11, 2020, and December 11, 2020. RESULTS: In the confirmed COVID-19 group, 48 (19.1%) patients were asymptomatic, 183 (72.9%) mild, 16 (6.4%) moderate, 1 (0.4%) severe and 3 were (1.2%) critically ill. Confirmed COVID-19 patients had significantly lower mean values of white blood cell (WBC), absolute neutrophil count, absolute lymphocyte count, platelet, and hemoglobin (P<.001). However, there was no significant difference in MPV levels between the two groups (P=.894). C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin, fibrinogen, and NT-pro-BNP mean values were significantly lower in confirmed COVID-19 cases than suspected cases (P<.001). Fifty-five (21.9%) patients required hospitalization due to COVID-19 and MPV, WBC, CRP, procalcitonin, D-dimer, and NT-pro-BNP were statistically higher in hospitalized patients than those in outpatients. The multivariate analysis of confirmed COVID-19 cases according to the severity of disease showed that lymphopenia and higher levels of fibrinogen significantly associated with severe clinical symptoms. Decision tree analysis showed that the most powerful predictor of hospitalization due to COVID-19 was the D-dimer (P< .001). CONCLUSIONS: MPV values are not associated with COVID-19 disease severity. However, it can be used with other parameters such as WBC, CRP, procalcitonin, D-dimer, and NT-pro-BNP to predict hospitalization. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.