ABSTRACT
Introduction: COVID-19 is an acute, sometimes severe, respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus SARSCoV-2. Aims and objectives: This study aimed to investigate the severity of COVID-19 based on serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor. Method(s): This cross-sectional study was conducted on 86 patients with COVID-19. They diagnosed using the RTPCR test taken from the throat and nose. The patient's demographic information were extracted from patients' records. A 5-ml venous blood sample was taken from each patient. VEGF was measured with the ELISA method using the Hangzhou East biopharma VEGF ELIZA Kit. Result(s): The mean age of patients was 55.56+/-14.88 years old. Fifty percent were male. The most common clinical symptom in patients was shortness of breath (77.9%). The VEGF and CRP mean serum levels were 2877.07+/-104.77 ng/ml and 46.16+/-24.23 mm/hour, respectively. There was no significant relationship between VEGF levels and COVID-19 severity (P=0.55). The percentage of pulmonary involvement > 50 in the severe group (72.7%) was higher than that of the non-severe group (2.4%) (P=0.001). There was a significant relationship between COVID-19 severity and the levels of LDH, neutrophil/lymph ratio, and CRP. Regarding medications, Remdesivir was used more in the severe group (70.5%) than in the non-severe group (45.2%) (P=0.018). Conclusion(s): Although serum VEGF levels were higher in severe group than non-severe group, but the difference was not statistically significant. Therefore, these inflammatory markers can assist in the initial evaluation of COVID19. Physicians should monitor serum levels of LDH, neutrophil/lymph ratio, and CRP when admitting COVID-19 patients.