scholarly journals Gender‐based disparities in COVID-19 patient outcomes

2021 ◽  
pp. jim-2020-001641
Author(s):  
Paul Ellis Marik ◽  
Sarah E DePerrior ◽  
Qamar Ahmad ◽  
Sunita Dodani

Studies reported to date suggest that men with COVID-19 have more severe disease and worse outcomes when compared with women. The explanation for this finding is not entirely clear. The goal of this study was to compare clinical characteristics, inflammatory biomarkers and clinical outcome between men and women. This retrospective study included patients with COVID-19 admitted to 10 Virginia hospitals from January 1, 2020, to June 15, 2020. Demographic data, comorbidities, and inflammatory markers, including C reactive protein (CRP), D-dimer, ferritin, and the neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio, as well as patient outcomes, were compared between men and women. During the study period, 701 patients with PCR-confirmed COVID-19 infection were admitted. The patient’s mean age was 61±17 years. There were 370 men (52.8%). There was no difference in age, racial distribution, and comorbidities in the male patients compared with the female patients. However, both the baseline and peak levels of CRP and ferritin were significantly higher in men as compared with women. While the baseline D-dimer was similar between the sexes, men had a significantly higher maximal D-dimer. Men had evidence of greater disease severity, with a significantly greater admission to the intensive care unit and borderline higher hospital mortality. Our study supports the observation that COVID-19 causes more severe disease in men. The greater disease severity in men was not due to the effect of age or comorbidities; however, in keeping with experimental studies, men had evidence of a heightened inflammatory response, likely contributing to disease severity.

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 2077
Author(s):  
Yi-Min Huang ◽  
Chiao Lo ◽  
Chiao-Feng Cheng ◽  
Cheng-Hsun Lu ◽  
Song-Chou Hsieh ◽  
...  

Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis (IGM) is a rare inflammatory breast disease mimicking breast cancer. Limited research has been conducted on the application of serum biomarkers. This study aims to investigate the association of serum biomarkers with disease severity in patients with IGM. From November 2011 to March 2020, medical records of patients with IGM were reviewed. Serum cytokine levels were measured in patients and healthy controls between July 2018 and March 2020. A total of 41 patients with histologically proven IGM were found. Serum interleukin (IL)-6 level was significantly higher in patients with IGM (n = 11) than healthy controls (n = 7). Serum IL-6 and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were significantly higher in patients with severe disease than mild and moderate disease. Serum IL-6 (Spearman’s ρ = 0.855; p < 0.001) and CRP (Spearman’s ρ = 0.838; p = 0.001) levels were associated with time to resolution. A higher serum CRP level was associated with a longer time to resolution (B = 0.322; p < 0.001) in multiple linear regression analysis. Serum IL-6 and CRP levels can be used as biomarkers for the evaluation of disease severity in IGM. IL-6 may play a crucial role in the immunopathology of IGM.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 270-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan L. McPhie ◽  
Alanna C. Bridgman ◽  
Mark G. Kirchhof

Background: Although a variety of medical and surgical interventions exist for the treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), it remains a challenging disease to manage because of its variable presentation and unpredictable clinical course. Apart from the combination of clindamycin and rifampin, the success of other combination therapies is largely unknown. Objectives: The goal of our study was to examine the clinical utility of various combination therapies for the treatment of HS. Methods: We conducted a qualitative retrospective chart review of 31 patients with dermatologist-diagnosed HS who were seen at an academic teaching hospital between 2014 and 2018. Demographic data, disease location, disease severity, and treatment protocol were retrieved for analysis. Hurley stage was used to classify disease severity on initial presentation, and the International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Severity Score System (IHS4) was used to track changes across visits. Results: Of the 31 patients (Mage = 37.7 years; 67.7% female) included in the study, 6 (19.4%), 11 (35.5%), and 14 (45.2%) patients were classified as Hurley stages I, II, and III, respectively. Although no statistical results are provided because of the small sample size, we have identified several drug combinations that show promising clinical response for patients with HS based on their IHS4 score, such as isotretinoin/spironolactone for mild disease, isotretinoin or doxycycline with adalimumab for moderate disease, and cyclosporine/adalimumab for severe disease. Conclusions: This preliminary work demonstrates that HS treatment with combination therapy appears to be a promising method of disease management.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (B) ◽  
pp. 692-697
Author(s):  
Arif Hanafi ◽  
Noorwati Soetandyo ◽  
Achmad Mulawarman Jayusman ◽  
Leovinna Widjaja ◽  
Fifi Dwijayanti ◽  
...  

Aim: To describe the clinical data and disease severity of thoracic malignancy patients with COVID-19 and its relation to the mitigation process at the Dharmais National Cancer Center, Indonesia. Methods: Total 5256 cancer patients registered from May 2020 to March 2021. There were 681 cancer patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Forty-five thoracic malignancy patients were enrolled. Data from medical records were obtained at the Dharmais Cancer Hospital, then analyzed using SPSS version 25. Comparative result was considered significant, as p-value < 0.05. Results: There were 12.9% of total patients registered infected by COVID-19, which 6% with thoracic malignancy dominated by Non-small cell lung carcinoma (57.8%). Patients who have asymptomatic (31.1%), mild (13.3%), and moderate COVID-19 disease (8.9%) were alive. Patient with severe disease (46.7%) tend to deteriorate. Neutrophilia (mean 78.0%), lymphopenia (mean 13.0%), high neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (mean 13.1), hyperuricemia (mean 31.6 mg/dL), high fibrinogen (mean 521.7 mg/dL), and high d-dimer (mean 3821.6 ng/mL) were significantly associated with disease severity (p-value < 0.05). Conclusions: Only small number of cancer patients affected by COVID-19 and mostly do not progress to severe disease, showing the strict mitigation strategy was successful. Severe disease patients have a poor prognosis, with neutrophilia, lymphopenia, high neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, hyperuricemia, high fibrinogen, and high d-dimer may be valuable for predicting poor prognosis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-464
Author(s):  
Vineet Banga ◽  
Stuti Jain

Patients of Covid 19 infections present with different severity. Levels of D Dimer in these patients can be correlated with disease severity for management and prognosis. To evaluate the usefulness of D-Dimer levels in blood to correlate with disease severity in COVID 19 patients. Retrospective study was done in Department of Pathology of Secondary Care hospital that became designated covid hospital from May 2021 to June 2021 on 60 COVID 19 positive admitted patients. D dimer levels were analysed and correlated with clinical severity of disease. Out of total 60 patients, 33 were in mild, 23 in moderate and 4 were in severe category. In mild cases D Dimer varies from 43 ng/ml to 183 ng/ml. In moderate cases D Dimer varies from 270 ng/ml to 991 ng/ml. In severe cases D Dimer varies from 1043 ng/ml to 2463 ng/ml. The study suggests cut off levels for D Dimer as up to 200 ng/ml for mild, 200-1000 ng/ml for moderate and more than 1000 ng/ml for severe category in COVID 19 patients. D dimer helps in identifying severe disease and can be used as an essential biomarker in developing the management protocol for COVID 19 patients.


Author(s):  
Robert A Fletcher ◽  
Thomas Matcham ◽  
Marta Tibúrcio ◽  
Arseni Anisimovich ◽  
Stojan Jovanović ◽  
...  

Background: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak presents a significant threat to global health. A better understanding of patient clinical profiles is essential to drive efficient and timely health service strategies. In this study, we aimed to identify risk factors for a higher susceptibility to symptomatic presentation with COVID-19 and a transition to severe disease. Methods: We analysed data on 2756 patients admitted to Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust between 1st January and 23rd April 2020. We compared differences in characteristics between patients designated positive for COVID-19 and patients designated negative on hospitalisation and derived a multivariable logistic regression model to identify risk factors for predicting risk of symptomatic COVID-19. For patients with COVID-19, we used univariable and multivariable logistic regression to identify risk factors associated with progression to severe disease defined by: 1) admission to the hospital AICU, 2) the need for mechanical ventilation, 3) in-hospital mortality, and 4) at least one measurement of elevated D-dimer (equal or superior to 1,000 ug/L) indicative of increased risk of venous thromboembolism. Results: The patient population consisted of 1148 COVID-19 positive and 1608 COVID-19 negative patients. Age, sex, self-reported ethnicity, C-reactive protein, white blood cell count, respiratory rate, body temperature, and systolic blood pressure formed the most parsimonious model for predicting risk of symptomatic COVID-19 at hospital admission. Among 1148 patients with COVID-19, 116 (10.1%) were admitted to the AICU, 71 (6.2%) required mechanical ventilation, 368 (32.1%) had at least one record of D-dimer levels ≥1,000 μg/L, and 118 patients died. In the multivariable logistic regression, age (OR = 0.953 per 1 year, 95% CI: 0.937-0.968) C-reactive protein (OR = 1.004 per 1 mg/L, 95% CI: 1.002-1.007), and white blood cell counts (OR = 1.059 per 109/L, 95% CI: 1.010-1.111) were found to be associated with admission to the AICU. Age (OR = 0.973 per 1 year, 95% CI: 0.955-0.990), C-reactive protein (OR = 1.003 per 1 mg/L, 95% CI: 1.000-1.006) and sodium (OR = 0.915 per 1 mmol/L, 0.868-0.962) were associated with mechanical ventilation. Age (OR = 1.023 per 1 year, 95% CI: 1.004-1.043), CRP (OR = 1.004 per 1 mg/L, 95% CI: 1.002-1.006), and body temperature (OR = 0.723 per 1oC, 95% CI: 0.541-0.958) were associated with elevated D-dimer. For mortality, we observed associations with age (OR = 1.060 per 1 year, 95% CI: 1.040-1.082), female sex (OR = 0.442, 95% CI: 0.442, 95% CI: 0.245-0.777), Asian ethnic background (OR = 2.237 vs White ethnic background, 95% CI: 1.111-4.510), C-reactive protein (OR = 1.004 per 1 mg/L, 95% CI: 1.001-1.006), sodium (OR = 1.038 per 1 mmol/L, 95% CI: 1.001-1.006), and respiratory rate (OR = 1.054 per 1 breath/min, 95% CI: 1.024-1.087). Conclusion: Our analysis suggests there are several demographic, clinical and laboratory findings associated with a symptomatic presentation of COVID-19. Moreover, significant associations between patient deterioration were found with age, sex and specific blood markers, chiefly C-reactive protein, and could help early identification of patients at risk of poorer prognosis. Further work is required to clarify the extent to which our observations are relevant beyond current settings.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0249346
Author(s):  
Ahmed S. Doghish ◽  
Walid F. Elkhatib ◽  
Essam A. Hassan ◽  
Ahmed F. Elkhateeb ◽  
Eman E. Mahmoud ◽  
...  

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a serious illness caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and in severe cases associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Objective To describe the clinical characteristics of patients with ARDS-COVID-19. Materials and methods This study involved 197 male Egyptian participants, among them111 COVID-19 patients presented with ARDS, 60 COVID-19 patients presented with non-ARDS, and 26 Non-COVID-19 patients. We reported the analysis results of clinical and laboratory information, including blood routine tests, blood biochemistry parameters [aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), creatinine and C‐reactive protein (CRP)], thrombotic activity (D‐dimer) and serum ferritin and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Results The levels of hemoglobin, AST, creatinine, monocyte count, monocyte %, RBC count, TLC, and platelet count were not significantly different among the groups. The lymphopenia and increased CRP, ALT, D-dimer, ferritin, and LDH were observed in patients with ARDS-COVID-19. Conclusion COVID-19 patients with ARDS presented with lymphopenia, increased thrombotic activity, increased CRP, LDH, and ferritin levels. The results revealed that CRP, D-dimer, LDH levels, and lymphopenia have a significant association with the COVID-19 severity and can be used as biomarkers to predict the disease severity.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Li ◽  
Mingyang Tang ◽  
Didi Liu ◽  
Fengchao Wang ◽  
Yanqing Yang

Abstract Background: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has become a worldwide emergency and has had a severe impact on human health. Inflammatory factors have the potential to either enhance the efficiency of host immune responses or damage the host organs with immune overreaction in COVID-19. Therefore, there is an urgent need to investigate the functions of inflammatory factors and serum markers that participate in disease progression. Methods: In total, 54 COVID-19 patients were enrolled in this study. Disease severity was evaluated by clinical evaluation, laboratory tests, and computed tomography (CT) scans. Data were collected at: admission, 3–5 days after admission, when severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA detection became negative, and composite endpoint. Results: We found that the positive rate in sputum was three times higher than that in throat swabs. Higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), D-dimer (D-D), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (NLR) or lower lymphocyte counts suggested more severe disease, and the levels of cytokines and serum markers were intrinsically correlated with disease progression. When SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection became negative, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve demonstrated that LDH had the highest sensitivity independently, and four indicators (NLR, CRP, LDH, and D-D) when combined had the highest sensitivity in distinguishing critically ill patients from mild ones. Conclusions: Monitoring dynamic changes in NLR, CRP, LDH, IL-6, and D-D levels, combined with CT imaging and viral RNA detection in sputum, could aid in severity evaluation and prognosis prediction and facilitate COVID-19 treatment.


Author(s):  
Todd A Florin ◽  
Lilliam Ambroggio ◽  
Cole Brokamp ◽  
Yin Zhang ◽  
Eric S Nylen ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Proadrenomedullin (proADM), a vasodilatory peptide with antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, predicts severe outcomes in adults with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) to a greater degree than C-reactive protein and procalcitonin. We evaluated the ability of proADM to predict disease severity across a range of clinical outcomes in children with suspected CAP. Methods We performed a prospective cohort study of children 3 months to 18 years with CAP in the emergency department (ED). Disease severity was defined as: mild (discharged home), mild-moderate (hospitalized but not moderate-severe or severe), moderate-severe (e.g., hospitalized with supplemental oxygen, broadening of antibiotics, complicated pneumonia), and severe (e.g., vasoactive infusions, chest drainage, severe sepsis). Outcomes were examined using proportional odds logistic regression within the cohort with suspected CAP and in a subset with radiographic CAP. Results Among 369 children, median proADM increased with disease severity [mild: median 0.53 nmol/L (IQR:0.43, 0.73), mild-moderate: 0.56 nmol/L (IQR:0.45, 0.71), moderate-severe: 0.61 nmol/L (IQR:0.47, 0.77), severe: 0.70 nmol/L (IQR:0.55, 1.04) (p=.002)]. ProADM was significantly associated with increased odds of developing severe outcomes (suspected CAP odds ratio (OR) 1.68 [95% CI, 1.2, 2.36], radiographic CAP OR 2.11 [95% CI, 1.36, 3.38]) adjusted for age, fever duration, antibiotic use, and pathogen. ProADM had an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.64 (95%CI, 0.56,0.72) in those with suspected CAP and AUC 0.77 (95% CI, 0.68,0.87) in radiographic CAP. Conclusions ProADM was associated with severe disease and discriminated moderately well children who developed severe disease from those who did not, particularly in radiographic CAP.


2020 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 60 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Rod ◽  
Oscar Oviedo-Trespalacios ◽  
Javier Cortes-Ramirez

The World Health Organization has emphasized that one of the most important questions to address regarding the covid-19 pandemic is to understand risk factors for disease severity. We conducted a brief review that synthesizes the available evidence and provides a judgment on the consistency of the association between risk factors and a composite end-point of severe-fatal covid-19. Additionally, we also conducted a comparability analysis of risk factors across 17 studies. We found evidence supporting a total of 60 predictors for disease severity, of which seven were deemed of high consistency, 40 of medium and 13 of low. Among the factors with high consistency of association, we found age, C-reactive protein, D-dimer, albumin, body temperature, SOFA score and diabetes. The results suggest that diabetes might be the most consistent comorbidity predicting disease severity and that future research should carefully consider the comparability of reporting cases, factors, and outcomes along the different stages of the natural history of covid-19.


Biomedicines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 917
Author(s):  
David San Segundo ◽  
Francisco Arnáiz de las Revillas ◽  
Patricia Lamadrid-Perojo ◽  
Alejandra Comins-Boo ◽  
Claudia González-Rico ◽  
...  

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many studies have been carried out to evaluate different immune system components to search for prognostic biomarkers of the disease. A broad multiparametric antibody panel of cellular and humoral components of the innate and the adaptative immune response in patients with active SARS-CoV-2 infection has been evaluated in this study. A total of 155 patients were studied at admission into our center and were categorized according to the requirement of oxygen therapy as mild or severe (the latter being those with the requirement). The patients with severe disease were older and had high ferritin, D-dimer, C-reactive protein, troponin, interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels, and neutrophilia with lymphopenia at admission. Moreover, the patients with mild symptoms had significantly increased circulating non-classical monocytes, innate lymphoid cells, and regulatory NK cells. In contrast, severe patients had a low frequency of Th1 and regulatory T cells with increased activated and exhausted CD8 phenotype (CD8+CD38+HLADR+ and CD8+CD27−CD28−, respectively). The predictive model included age, ferritin, D-dimer, lymph counts, C4, CD8+CD27−CD28−, and non-classical monocytes in the logistic regression analysis. The model predicted severity with an area under the curve of 78%. Both innate and adaptive immune parameters could be considered potential predictive biomarkers of the prognosis of COVID-19 disease.


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