TITLE:
COVID-19 Patients with Cardiovascular Diseases: Important Laboratory Markers to Predict Prognosis
AUTHORS:
Amr Elkammash, Nourhan Degheidy, Saleh Kanaan, Fairouz Farag, Mian Ahmed, Ahmed Khalifa
KEYWORDS:
COVID-19, Laboratory, Cardiovascular, Lymphopenia, Thrombocytopenia, CRP, Ferritin, Troponin, Fibrin Degradation Products, Procalcitonin, Interleukin-6
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.7 No.8,
August
24,
2020
ABSTRACT:
Background: Patients with cardiovascular diseases are susceptible to poor outcomes in COVID-19 infection. Knowing their prognosis will help to allocate resources to provide them with the best care. This article reviews the best available literature about laboratory markers that can be done on admission of COVID-19 patients with cardiovascular problems and help to predict their prognosis. Design and Methods: Search engines such as Google Scholar, Pubmed and Google were used to collect data on published studies using combination of search words “COVID-19” and one or more of the following: mortality, Leucopenia, thrombocytopenia, Ferritin, CRP, troponin, IL-6, LDH and coagulopathy. Results: There is robust evidence that laboratory markers can predict the prognosis in COVID-19 infected patients, including those with cardiovascular problems. Poor outcomes were correlated with the following: Lymphopenia, thrombocytopenia and high LDH, hs-cTn, D-dimer, PT, FDP, Ferritin, CRP, PCT and IL-6. Elevated PCT is related to secondary bacterial infection in severe cases. IL-6 inhibitor (Tocilizumab) can be a good treatment option for severe and critical COVID-19 cases and should be further studied by randomized control trials. Conclusion: Certain laboratory markers should be requested on admission of COVID-19 patients with cardiovascular problems to improve their management and outcomes.