A retrospective analysis of intensive care unit patients during the pandemic period

BACKGROUND: It is essential to understand well the prognosis and clinical fi ndings for the early diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 patients. We aimed to evaluate the laboratory parameters, risk factors, and success in predicting mortality in COVID-19 patients admitted to our hospital's intensive care units (ICUs). METHODS: Levels of procalcitonin, ferritin, D-dimer, CRP and albumin measured on days 1 and 7 were recorded. Patients were divided into two groups as non-survivors and patients, who were discharged from ICUs. The predictive values of laboratory parameters in predicting COVID-19 mortality were investigated. RESULTS: A statistically signifi cant difference was detected between the two groups in the mean values of all laboratory parameters tested on days 1 and 7, including D-dimer, procalcitonin, CRP, WBC, ferritin (excluding only D-dimer levels and WBC counts on day 1; p=0.061 and p=0.243, respectively) (p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001, p=0.013, p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001; respectively). CONCLUSION:. It can be argued that procalcitonin, ferritin, and D-dimer can be guiding parameters in predicting mortality in COVID-19 because their levels were found to be signifi cantly higher in non-survivors. D-dimer, procalcitonin, and ferritin showed an almost high level of sensitivity and specifi city in predicting mortality (Tab. 5, Fig. 3, Ref. 19). Text in PDF www.elis.sk