The prognostic value of procalcitonin in patients with hypoxemic COVID 19 pneumonia

Abstract

<b>Introduction:</b> Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a potentially serious disease. The identification of early indicators of disease progression in necessary to provide the basis for improved prognostic prediction and disease management. <b>Aims:</b> The aim of the study was to evaluate whether elevated procalcitonin level could predict severity in patients with Covid-19. <b>Methods:</b> A retrospective study including 88 patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection hospitalized in the pulmonology department of the military hospital of Tunis between September 2020 and February 2021. We defined two groups: Group1 (n=20): patients with positive procalcitonin (&gt;0.5 μg/L), Group2(n=68): patients with negative procalcitonin (&gt;0.5 μg/L). <b>Results:</b> A total of 88 patients were enrolled in the study. The median age was 60 ±12 years. The majority of the population were male (64%). Twenty-four percent of patients were smokers. The most common comorbidities were: Hypertension (n=38, [44%]), diabetes (n=33, [37%]) and asthma (n=10, [11%]). Dyspnea was the main symptom (85%), followed by fatigue (65%), fever (63%) and cough (57%). The patients of&nbsp; G1 had more severe form of the disease on admission than G2 (p=0.004).&nbsp; There were no significant differences between reported symptoms in the two groups as well as main hospital length of stay. Patients with procalcitonin levels≥0.5 μg/Lhad a higher incidence of thromboembolic complications (p=0.01) and mortality (p=0.001) when comparing with those with low procalcitonin level (p=0.02). <b>Conclusion:</b> Procalcitonin measurement on admission may be a useful marker to predict severity in patients with COVID19.