hematological indices in covid-19 patients with rhinosinusitis mucormycosis

Introduction: rhinosinusitis mucormycosis (rm) is an invasive opportunistic fungal infection, especially among covid-19 patients. the current study aimed to assess the peripheral blood hematological disorders of covid-19 patients-associated rm.materials and methods: during ten month, in two covid-19 centers in mashhad, iran, from june 2021 to march 2022, eighty-three patients suspected of covid-19 with rhinosinusitis or rhino-orbital mucormycosis participated in this study. the hematological indices of these patients were measured by independent sample t‐test or mann-whitney test for quantitative data, and the qualitative variables were analyzed using chi-square or fisher’s exact test in spss version 20 at a significance level of 0.05.results: of the covid-19 patients, 40 (48.2%) were affected by rm, and leukocytosis due to neutrophilia was observed in 30% of them. leukocyte counts were normal in 10 (25%) patients, but 1 (2.5%) and 3 (7.5%) had leukopenia and lymphopenia, respectively. leukocytosis plus lymphopenia was observed in 7 (17.5%) patients. also, the synchronicity of leukopenia and lymphopenia was seen in 5 (12.5%) patients. leukopenia, lymphopenia, and neutropenia have occurred concurrently in 2 (5%) patients. the complete blood count (cbc) showed that rbcs, hemoglobin (hb), hematocrit (hct), mch, mchc, platelet (plt), and lymphocytes decreased while neutrophils increased.conclusion: among the hematological parameters, leukocytosis due to neutrophilia and reduction in hb, hct, and plt are more dominant factors in covid-19 patients-associated rm.