Biomarkers and short-term prognosis in COVID-19.

Purpose: The aim of our study was to analyse the short-term prognostic value of different biomarkers in patients with COVID-19.

Methods: We included patients admitted to emergency department with COVID-19 and available concentrations of cardiac troponin I (cTnI), D-dimer, C-reactive protein (CRP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Patients were classified for each biomarker into two groups (low vs. high concentrations) according to their best cut-off point, and 30-day all-cause death was evaluated.

Results: After multivariate adjustment, cTnI ≥21 ng/L, D-dimer ≥1112 ng/mL, CRP ≥10 mg/dL and LDH ≥334 U/L at admission were associated with an increased risk of 30-day all-cause death (hazard ratio (HR) 4.30; 95% CI 1.74-10.58;  = 0.002; HR 3.35; 95% CI 1.58-7.13;  = 0.002; HR 2.25; 95% CI 1.13-4.50;  = 0.021; HR 2.00; 95% CI 1.04-3.84;  = 0.039, respectively). The area under the curve for cTnI was 0.825 (95% CI 0.759-0.892) and, in comparison, was significantly better than CRP (0.685; 95% CI 0.600-0.770;  = 0.009) and LDH (0.643; 95% CI 0.534-0.753;  = 0.006) but non-significantly better than D-dimer (0.756; 95% CI 0.674-0.837;  = 0.115).

Conclusions: In patients with COVID-19, increased concentrations of cTnI, D-dimer, CRP and LDH are associated with short-term mortality. Of these, cTnI provides better mortality risk prediction. However, differences with D-dimer were non-significant.