PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF LACTATE DEHYDROGENASE IN COVID 19 PATIENTS AT TISHREEN UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Yaala Aboud*, Muhammad Alkhayer and Firas Hussein

ABSTRACT

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2) has trigge red a global health crisis that has affected populations and spread rapidly worldwide. Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of lactate dehydrogenase LDH as a potential predictor for COVID-19 induced fatal clinical complications in hospitaliz ed patients. Materials and Methods: This was an Analytic Cohort study(Retrospective) involved 29 3 patients with proven diagnosis of COVID-19 admitted at quarantine unit, Tishreen U niversity Hospital, Lattakia, during the period 2020- 2021. Patients were divided into t wo groups according to LDH: group 1 included patients with normal levels of LDH (15 patients), and group 2 included patients with elevated levels of LDH (278 patients). M orbidity and mortality were compared between two groups. Results: Out of 293 patients, 165 were male and 128 were female, with mean age of t he patients was 62.4±15.1. There were no significant differences between two groups regarding of age, gender, and comorbidities (p>0.05). There were significant differen ces between two groups regarding laboratory investigations: lymphocytes levels whic h decreased significantly with increasing LDH and D-dimer which were higher in patie nts with higher levels of LDH(p<0.05). High levels of LDH was associated with an indep endent risk for mortality (RR: 3.9[1.9-10.3], p:0.0001), admission in intensive unit care ICU (RR: 2.1[1.2-7.5], p:0.0001), need for non-invasive ventilation (RR: 2.6[1.1-7.6], p: 0.004), and longer duration of hospitalization (RR: 3.1[2.9-9.8], p:0.0001). Conclusion: The current study showed unfavorable results of elevated levels of LDH o n final outcome regarding morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 patients.

Keywords: COVID-19, lactate dehydrogenase, morbidity, mortality.