Advances in clinical diagnosis and treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome

Table 1 Earliest symptoms of SARS^a

Symptom	No. (%) of patients (n = 144)
Fever (n = 106)
Alone	33 (23)
With prodrome	33 (23)
With prodrome and cough or dyspnea	16 (11)
With cough or dyspnea	15 (11)
With other combinations	9(6)
Prodrome alone	19 (13)
Cough or dyspnea alone	13 (9)
Symptom reported first
Prodrome	74 (52)
Fever	106 (74)
Cough or dyspnea	51 (35)
Diarrhea	9 (6)

^aProdrome includes headache, malaise, or myalgia.

Table 2 Laboratory features of SARS at admission and during hospitalization

	At admission		During hospitalizationa
	Median(IQR)	No./Total(%) Abnormalb	Median(IQR)	No./Total(%) Abnormalb
Lymphocytes,/μL	900 (700-1300)	104/122 (85)	500 (400-800)	106/120 (88)
Lactate dehydrogenase, U/L	396 (219-629)	86/99 (87)	630 (363-1156)	115/123 (94)
Creatine kinase, U/L	157 (70-310)	43/109 (39)	370 (208-959)	64/118 (54)
Potassium, mEq/L	3.7 (3.4-4.0)	36/137 (26)	3.2 (2.9-3.4)	60/140 (43)
Calcium, mg/dLc	8.52 (8.2-9.16)	53/89 (60)	8.1 (7.76)	71/101 (70)
Magnesium, mg/dL	1.94 (1.7-2.19)	12/68 (18)	1.43 (0.97-1.51)	55/96 (57)
Phosphorus, mg/dL	3.10 (2.76-3.69)	17/64 (27)	2.17 (1.83-2.48)	41/78(53)

Abbreviations: IQR, interquartile range; SI conversions: To convert calcium to mmol/L. multiply by 0.25. To convert magnesium to mmol/L, multiply by 0.411. To convert phosphorus to mmol/L, multiply by 0.323. ^aThe most abnormal value recorded used.

^bDefined as lymphocytes < 1500/μL; lactate dehydrogenase > 190 U/L; creatine kinase > 240 U/L for men and > 190 U/L for women; potassium < 3.5 mEq/L; calcium < 8.8 mg/dL; magnesium < 1.70 mg/dL; phosphate < 2.79 mg/dL.

^cCalcium values have been corrected for serum albumin.