Prognostic value of heparin-binding protein for mortality in severe COVID-19 pneumonia.

Aim: The study investigated heparin-binding protein (HBP) levels in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia and their relation to prognosis. Methods: A total of 134 patients with serious COVID-19 pneumonia were prospectively analyzed. HBP levels were statistically compared between both the patient and healthy control groups and within the patient group itself. Results: HBP was defined to be significantly higher in the patient group compared with the control group. There was a statistically significant distinction between the patients who survived and those who died with regard to HBP levels. When the cutoff value of HBP was >13.47, sensitivity (89.8%), specificity (74.1%) had area under the curve values of 0.806 (p < 0.001). Conclusion: HBP level may be used for prognosis prediction of patients with COVID-19.

Epidemiological characteristics of patients with Covid-19 suspicion applying to a university hospital: The first eighty days in a pandemic

Aim: The first COVID-19 case in Turkey was detected on March 11, 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic process. Epidemiological studies are needed to be prepared for other outbreaks and to be effective in the disease management process. Based on this reason, in this study it was aimed to determine the epidemiological characteristics of Covid 19 possible and definite cases who applied to the university hospital during the pandemic process. Materials and Methods: This retrospective epidemiological study was carried out by analyzing the data of Covid 19 possible and definite cases, who applied to the university hospital operating as a pandemic hospital between 11 March / 01 June 2020. The data were summarized with descriptive statistics, tables and graphs. Results: Of the 1,383 patients, who applied with the suspicion of COVID-19, 55.5% were men and 84.5% were adults. The median age of children is 4.0 (1.5-10) years old;adults were 52.0 (36.0-67.0) years old. The median time between the outset of complaints and the date of admission to the hospital was 2 (1-3) days. 87.4% of adults and 87.9% of children had symptoms that supported COVID-19 infection. Among cases 7.8% were health care workers. The median age of the fatal cases was 71 (64-82) years old, 79.5% were male, 77.7% were retired. The most common comorbide diseases in these cases were hypertension (28.2%) and malignancy (28.2%). The case fatality rate was found as 2.8% in all patients and 48.4% in patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit. Conclusions: As a result, Covid-19 affects all age groups. Hypertension and malignancy were the most common additional diseases in fatal cases. The risk of illness is higher in healthcare workers who have direct contact with the patients. According to our observations, preventive measures, rapid diagnosis and supportive treatment are valuable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Annals of Medical of Research is the property of Annals of Medical Research and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Predictive value of D-dimer/albumin ratio and fibrinogen/albumin ratio for in-hospital mortality in patients with COVID-19.

INTRODUCTION: Due to the high mortality of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), there are difficulties in the managing emergency department. We investigated whether the D-dimer/albumin ratio (DAR) and fibrinogen/albumin ratio (FAR) predict mortality in the COVID-19 patients. METHODS: A total of 717 COVID-19 patients who were brought to the emergency department from March to October 2020 were included in the study. Levels of D-dimer, fibrinogen and albumin, as well as DAR, FAR, age, gender and in-hospital mortality status of the patients, were recorded. The patients were grouped by in-hospital mortality. Statistical comparison was conducted between the groups. RESULTS: Of the patients included in the study, 371 (51.7%) were male, and their median age was 64 years (50-74). There was in-hospital mortality in 126 (17.6%) patients. The area under the curve (AUC) and odds ratio values obtained by DAR to predict in-hospital mortality were higher than the values obtained by the all other parameters (AUC of DAR, albumin, D-dimer, FAR and fibrinogen: 0.773, 0.766, 0.757, 0.703 and 0.637, respectively; odds ratio of DAR > 56.36, albumin < 4.015, D-dimer > 292.5, FAR > 112.33 and fibrinogen > 423:7.898, 6.216, 6.058, 4.437 and 2.794, respectively). In addition; patients with concurrent DAR > 56.36 and FAR > 112.33 had an odds ratio of 21.879 with respect to patients with concurrent DAR < 56.36 and FAR < 112.33. CONCLUSION: DAR may be used as a new marker to predict mortality in COVID-19 patients. In addition, the concurrent high DARs and FARs were found to be more valuable in predicting in-hospital mortality than either separately.

The role of the BUN/albumin ratio in predicting mortality in COVID-19 patients in the emergency department.

INTRODUCTION: Due to the high mortality and spread rates of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), there are currently serious challenges in emergency department management. As such, we investigated whether the blood urea nitrogen (BUN)/albumin ratio (BAR) predicts mortality in the COVID-19 patients in the emergency department. METHODS: A total of 602 COVID-19 patients who were brought to the emergency department within the period from March to September 2020 were included in the study. The BUN level, albumin level, BAR, age, gender, and in-hospital mortality status of the patients were recorded. The patients were grouped by in-hospital mortality. Statistical comparison was conducted between the groups. RESULTS: Of the patients who were included in the study, 312(51.8%) were male, and their median age was 63 years (49-73). There was in-hospital mortality in 96(15.9%) patients. The median BUN and BAR values of the patients in the non-survivor group were significantly higher than those in the survivor group (BUN: 24.76 [17.38-38.31] and 14.43 [10.84-20.42], respectively [p < 0.001]; BAR: 6.7 [4.7-10.1] and 3.4 [2.5-5.2], respectively [p < 0.001]). The mean albumin value in the non-survivor group was significantly lower than that in the survivor group (3.60 ± 0.58 and 4.13 ± 0.51, respectively; p < 0.001). The area-under-the-curve (AUC) and odds ratio values obtained by BAR to predict in-hospital COVID-19 mortality were higher than the values obtained by BUN and albumin (AUC of BAR, BUN, and albumin: 0.809, 0.771, and 0.765, respectively; odds ratio of BAR>3.9, BUN>16.05, and albumin<4.01: 10.448, 7.048, and 6.482, respectively). CONCLUSION: The BUN, albumin, and BAR levels were found to be reliable predictors of in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients, but BAR was found to be a more reliable predictor than the BUN and albumin levels.