George Washington (GW) University researchers have found five biomarkers, medical indicators found in the blood, associated with higher odds of clinical deterioration and death in Covid-19 patients.
The findings, which have been published in the journal Future Medicine, is likely to help physicians better predict outcomes for Covid-19 patients. Currently, physicians determine risk for Covid deterioration and death based on age and certain underlying medical conditions, like having an immunocompromised state, obesity, and heart disease.
And initial studies coming out of China had shown certain biomarkers were associated with bad outcomes.The research team evaluated 299 US patients diagnosed with Covid, admitted between March 12 and May 9, 2020.
Of these patients, 200 had all five biomarkers being evaluated — IL-6, D-dimer, CRP, LDH and ferritin.Elevated levels of these biomarkers were associated with inflammation and bleeding disorder, showing an independent increased risk for ICU admission, invasive ventilatory support, and death.
The highest odds of death occurred when the LDH level was greater than 1,200 units/l and a D-dimer level was greater than 3 mg/ml.”We hope these biomarkers help physicians determine how aggressively they need to treat patients, whether a patient should be discharged, and how to monitor patients who are going home, among other clinical decisions,” said Shant Ayanian, MD, first author of the study and assistant professor of medicine at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
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