The effectiveness of immature granulocyte counts for predicting COVID-19 severity and poor outcomes

Objective The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between immature granulocyte (IG) counts and the severity of the disease and to evaluate the effectiveness of IG in predicting the poor outcomes in PCR-confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Methods The study was carried out prospectively and observationally at the emergency department. Patients were divided into three groups according to the clinical severity indicators such as mild, moderate and severe. The IG level was measured from the whole blood samples taken at the admission to the emergency department. Intensive care unit admission, ventilation support, and death within the first 28 days after the admission were evaluated as composite outcomes.
Results The study group consisted of 203 adults, of whom 91 (44.8%) were women. According to the severity of the illness, 40 patients (19.7%) were classified as mild, 67 patients (33.0%) as moderate, and 96 patients (47.3%) as severe. When comparing IG levels between the groups, there was a statistically significant difference between the mild and severe groups (p = 0.047) and between the moderate and severe disease groups (p = 0.036). There was no statistically significant relationship between IG counts and the composite outcome (p> 0.05)
Conclusion The IG level which could be measured faster than other laboratory tests without any additional cost, could be used for the determination of the clinical severity of patients with COVID-19. However, we conclude that this parameter is not effective in determining poor outcomes during the admission.