ABSTRACT
Background. Since the onset of the 2019 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the rapid increase in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) cases has led to an excessive rate of intensive care units (ICU) admissions, a rate varying between 5-18%, depending on the country. Consequently, the study of serum biomarkers, such as D-dimer, have been utilized to identify patient with severe disease. However, further data is needed to confirm the association between this serum concentration of D-dimer and the risk of ICU admission. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine if serum concentration of D-dimer predict the risk of ICU admission in patients with COVID-19 and CAP. Methods. A prospective observational study was carried out at the Clinica Universidad de La Sabana, Colombia. Patients older than 18 years old, hospitalized for COVID-19 or CAP were included. Then, patients were stratified into ICU and non-ICU patients. Plasma samples were collected within the first 24 hours of hospital admission to quantify D-dimer using the PATHFAST system. Concentrations were compared among groups and to assess the biomarker capacity to predict ICU admission risk, ROC curves were used. Finally, a DeLong test was applied to compare their differences. Results. A total of 240 patients diagnosed with lower respiratory tract infection were included in the study. 88 patients were COVID-19 negative (CAP) and 152 were positive. Plasma concentrations of D-dimer (μg/ml) were significantly higher in COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU when compared with non-ICU COVID-19 admitted patients (Median [IQR];1.54 [0.9-3.25] Vs. 1.13 [0.69-1.69], p=0.005). The area under curve (AUC) ROC to predict ICU admission was 0.62 among COVID-19 patients. DeLong's test p value was 0.24. Serum D-dimer an ICU admission Conclusion. D-dimer seems to be a promising tool to identify COVID-19 patients with disease. However, this predicting capacity was not observed in CAP patients. Further studies are needed to identify the mechanisms underling the elevation of D-dimer in COVID-19 patients.
ABSTRACT
Background. Lower respiratory tract infections such as community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are the main current causes of mortality worldwide. Several scores and biomarkers have been proposed to identify patients at risk of dying, with unclear results. Presepsin is a glycoprotein expressed on the surface of the membrane of monocytes and macrophages and its utility has been proven in sepsis as a predictor of severity and treatment response. However, it is unknown the utility of this biomarker as a mortality predictor among COVID-19 and CAP patients. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the utility of serum presepsin to identify patients at risk of dying due to COVID-19 and CAP. Methods. A prospective observational study was conducted at Clinica Universidad de La Sabana, Colombia. We included 240 patients who required hospital admission due to CAP or COVID-19. Plasma samples were collected within 24 hours of admission. The presepsin concentration was quantified using the PATHFAST system. Afterwards, a two-tailed test was used to compare mortality rates among patients and their presepsin plasma concentration. Lastly, the ROC was calculated to determine presepsin's sensibility as a mortality predictor. Results. A total of 88 patients with CAP and 152 patients with COVID-19 were included in the study. The median [with IQR] in Presepsin plasma concentration was higher in all patients who died (920 [573 - 2340] vs 573 [307,5 - 1052,5], p-value< 0.0001). Furthermore, comparing to the study group, the median concentration of presepsin was higher in patients deceased by COVID-19 than those who survived. (1358 [642,8 - 2976,8] vs 570 [333,2 - 1007,5], p-value< 0.0001). In addition, the area under the curve (AUC) ROC of presepsin to predict risk of mortality was 0.769. DeLong's test comparing ROC curves in COVID-19 and CAP patients had a p-value=0.073. Conclusion. Plasma concentrations of presepsin plasma were higher among COVID-19 patients who died. Moreover, serum concentration of presepsin were not useful to identify CAP patients at risk of dying. However, practical use of Presepsin as a prognostic biomarker of severity is yet to be assessed as further studies are needed.
ABSTRACT
Background. Up until this day, over 3.5 million fatalities related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been registered worldwide by the World Health Organization. Healthcare professionals require prognostic tools for COVID-19 patients in order to guide treatment strategies. Elevated troponin levels, a biomarker of cardiac injury, have been detected among patients with COVID-19, hence associating it with cardiac injury. Although several studies have mentioned it, the role of troponin as a prognosis biomarker is unclear. Elevation in troponin levels has been observed in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). However, its association with mortality is scarcely mentioned in literature. Thus, we sought to determine the utility of serum troponin I levels as a mortality predictor for patients with COVID-19 and CAP. Methods. A prospective observational study was carried out at Clinica Universidad de La Sabana, Colombia, with patients hospitalized due to CAP and COVID-19. Troponin biomarker was quantified in serum samples using the PATHFAST system within the first 24 hours of hospital admission. Serum concentrations of troponin were compared among study groups. To assess the biomarkeŕs capacity to predict mortality, ROC curves were used, quantifying their differences through the DeLonǵs test. Results. A total of 88 patients with CAP and 152 with COVID-19 were included in the study. In all cohort the median [IQR] serum concentration of troponin (ng/ml) was higher in those who died (34.2, [9.74-384] vs 5.89, [2.44-27.9] p< 0.001). Furthermore, troponin was higher in deceased patients with COVID-19 vs those who survived (77.35 [11.9-346.5] vs. 4.88 [2.10-13.02], p< 0.001). However, there was no significant difference between CAP deceased and not deceased patients (18.1 [8.52-398] vs 15.7 [3.75-62.8], p=0.16). Although sample size might be a limitation when analyzing these results, the AUC ROC of troponin I to predict mortality was 0.799 for COVID-19 and 0.615 for CAP, the DeLongs test for compared ROC curves was a p= 0.0351. A. Serum troponin I and mortality due to lower respiratory tract infections B. Serum troponin I to predict mortality in patients with lower tract infections C. ROC curve for serum troponin I to predict risk of mortality Conclusion. Overall, troponin levels were higher among deceased patients. Our findings suggest that high troponin levels are a mortality predictor for patients with COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
Background. Since the spread of SARS-CoV-2 worldwide, there has been the need for scores and biomarkers to identify patients at risk of died or requiring admission to the intensive care units (ICU) admission. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is released as a response to the infection, stimulating inflammatory pathways in the acute phase response. Thus, previous studies have shown that high serum concentrations IL-10 can be identify patients with severe community acquired pneumonia (CAP). Nevertheless, there is a lack of information regarding the capacity of IL-10 to identify severe COVID-19. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the capacity of IL-10 as a prediction factor for mortality in hospital admitted patients with COVID-19 compared with CAP patients. Methods. A prospective observational study was carried out at the Clinica Universidad de La Sabana, Colombia. Patients older than 18 years and old, hospitalized due to COVID 19 or CAP, were included. Patients were stratified into COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients. IL-10 levels were quantified in serum samples using the LUMINEX technology. Serum samples were collected within the first 24 hours of hospital admission. Afterward, concentrations of interleukinwere statistically compared among groups. ROC curves were calculated. Results. A total of 88 patients with CAP and 152 patients with COVID-19 were enrolled in the study. The median [with IQR] serum concentration of IL-10 were higher in those patients who died (81.1 [30.7-148.9] vs 18.8 [8.3-48.4] p-value < 0.0001). Then, comparing the study group, the median concentration of IL-10 levels among patients deceased by COVID-19 were higher than patients those who survived (85.1 [40-149.8] vs 32.4 [13.9-56.7] p-value < 0.001). In addition, IL-10 levels were higher in patients who survived COVID-19 compared with those who survived CAP (32.4 [13.9-56.7] vs 10.6 [4.9-18] p-value < 0.0001). The area under curve (AUC) ROC of IL-10 to predict mortality risk was 0.754 for all cohort. DeLonǵs test comparing ROC curves in COVID-19 and CAP patients had a p= 0.744. Conclusion. High serum levels of IL-10 are a good predictor of in-hospital mortality among COVID-19 patients. However, this risk association was not observed in CAP patients. Further studies are needed.