Elevated Procalcitonin Is Positively Associated with the Severity of COVID-19: A Meta-Analysis Based on 10 Cohort Studies.
Medicina (Kaunas)
; 57(6)2021 Jun 09.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1264490
ABSTRACT
Background and Objectives:
Procalcitonin (PCT) is positively associated with the severity of COVID-19 (including severe, critical, or fatal outcomes), but some of the confounding factors are not considered. The aim of this meta-analysis was to estimate the adjusted relationship between elevated procalcitonin on admission and the severity of COVID-19. Materials andMethods:
We searched 1805 articles from PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases up to 2 April 2021. The articles were selected which reported the adjusted relationship applying multivariate analysis between PCT and the severity of COVID-19. The pooled effect estimate was calculated by the random-effects model.Results:
The meta-analysis included 10 cohort studies with a total of 7716 patients. Patients with elevated procalcitonin on admission were at a higher risk of severe and critical COVID-19 (pooled effect estimate 1.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.38-2.29; I2 = 85.6%, p < 0.001). Similar results were also observed in dead patients (pooled effect estimate 1.77, 95% CI 1.36-2.30). After adjusting for diabetes, the positive association between PCT and the severity of COVID-19 decreased. Subgroup analysis revealed heterogeneity between studies and sensitivity analysis showed that the results were robust. There was no evidence of publication bias by Egger's test (p = 0.106).Conclusions:
Higher procalcitonin is positively associated with the severity of COVID-19, which is a potential biomarker to evaluate the severity of COVID-19 and predict the prognosis.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Procalcitonin
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
/
Reviews
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal subject:
Medicine
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Medicina57060594
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