Predictive Value of Hematological Indices on Incidence and Severity of Pulmonary Embolism in Covid-19 Patients Publisher Pubmed



Radkhah H¹ ; Mansouri ES¹ ; Rahimipour Anaraki S² ; Gholizadeh Mesgarha M² ; Sheikhy A³ ; Khadembashiri MM³ ; Khadembashiri MA³ ; Eslami M³ ; Mahmoodi T³ ; Inanloo B⁴ ; Pour Mohammad A² Show Affiliations
Source: Immunity# Inflammation and Disease Published:2023

Abstract

Background: Pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) is a common complication of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which raises the COVID-19 disease's fatality rate from 3% to 45%. Nevertheless, due to fairly indistinguishable clinical symptoms and a lack of validated clinical prediction models, PTE diagnosis in COVID-19 patients is challenging. This study aims to investigate the applicability of hematological indices to predict PTE incidence and its severity in SARS-CoV-2 patients. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on hospitalized patients with a confirmed diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection who underwent CT angiography to assess probable PTE in them. The correlation between complete blood count parameters 1 day before CT angiography and CT angiography outcomes, and simplified pulmonary embolism severity index (s-PESI) was investigated. Results: We discovered that among individuals with a probable PTE, males and those with higher platelet-to-lymphocyte (PLR) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (NLR) ratios had a greater likelihood of PTE incidence (p <.001,.027, and.037, respectively). PLR was a significant and independent predictor of PTE with a p value of.045. Moreover, a higher neutrophil count was associated with a higher s-PESI score in COVID-19 patients developing PTE (p:.038). Conclusions: Among hematological indices, NLR and more precisely PLR are cost-effective and simply calculable markers that can assist physicians in determining whether or not COVID-19 patients with clinically probable PTE require CT angiography and the higher neutrophil count can be employed as an indicator of PTE severity in COVID-19 patients. Further large multicenter and prospective studies are warranted to corroborate these observations. © 2023 The Authors. Immunity, Inflammation and Disease published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.