[Clinical analysis of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome in Beijing area].

OBJECTIVE: To study the epidemiological, clinical and laboratory characteristics, treatment and prognosis of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). METHODS: Clinical data from 250 patients with SARS were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: The age of the patients were 36 +/- 16, 44.0% (n = 110) were male, and 56.0% (n = 140) were female. The incubation period was 8 +/- 7 days. The most common symptom were fever (100. 0%), cough (72.8%), and fatigue (70.0%). 27.2% of the patients had decreased white blood cell counts. 64.2% of the patients had decreased lymphocytes. 91.4% and 80.6% of the patients had decreased CD(4)(+) and CD(8)(+) cell counts, respectively. 162 patients (64.8%) had decreased SaO(2). Serum ALT, AST, LDH and CK were elevated in 45.2%, 29.4%, 42.1%, and 18.3% of the patients respectively. Serum IgG to SARS virus was positive in 69.9% of the patients at recovery stage. General combination therapy including antibiotics, anti-viral agents, glucocorticoids and immunity-enhancing agents, was used. Artificial ventilation was used in 196 patients including 8 for whom invasive mechanical ventilation was used Eighty-one (32.4%) were diagnosed as having severe type of SARS. 25 patients died of SARS. CONCLUSIONS: SARS is a highly communicable disease and mostly affects youth and people in their prime of life. It has characteristic clinical manifestations. Combination therapy can be very effective for most patients.