Eosinopenia in COVID-19 Patients: A Retrospective Analysis

• Main Authors: Narcisse Ndieugnou Djangang, Lorenzo Peluso, Marta Talamonti, Antonio Izzi, Pierre Alain Gevenois, Alessandra Garufi, Jean-Christophe Goffard, Sophie Henrard, Paolo Severgnini, Jean-Louis Vincent, Jacques Creteur, Fabio Silvio Taccone
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-12-01
• Series: Microorganisms
• Subjects: coronavirus; eosinophils; chest CT imaging; reverse transcription polymerase; COVID-19
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/8/12/1929

<i>Objectives</i>: The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic role of eosinophils count in COVID-19 patients. <i>Methods</i>: Retrospective analysis of patients admitted to our hospital with suspicion of COVID-19. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data were collected on admission. Eosinopenia was defined as eosinophils < 100 cells/mm³. The outcomes of this study were the association between eosinophils count on admission and positive real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) test and with suggestive chest computerized tomography (CT) of COVID-19 pneumonia. <i>Results</i>: A total of 174 patients was studied. Of those, 54% had positive rRT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2. A chest CT-scan was performed in 145 patients; 71% showed suggestive findings of COVID-19. Eosinophils on admission had a high predictive accuracy for positive rRT-PCR and suggestive chest CT-scan (area under the receiver operating characteristic—ROC curve, 0.84 (95% CIs 0.78–0.90) and 0.84 (95% CIs 0.77–0.91), respectively). Eosinopenia and high LDH were independent predictors of positive rRT-PCR, whereas eosinopenia, high body mass index and hypertension were predictors for suggestive CT-scan findings. <i>Conclusions</i>: Eosinopenia on admission could predict positive rRT-PCR test or suggestive chest CT-scan for COVID-19. This laboratory finding could help to identify patients at high-risk of COVID-19 in the setting where gold standard diagnostic methods are not available.