SARS-CoV2 pneumonia patients admitted to the ICU: Analysis according to clinical and biological parameters and the extent of lung parenchymal lesions on chest CT scan, a monocentric observational study

TL;DR

This study shows that lung damage seen on CT scans and certain blood markers can predict poor outcomes in ICU patients with severe COVID-19.

Contribution

The study demonstrates that combining CT scan findings with biomarkers improves prediction of mortality in ICU-admitted SARS-CoV-2 patients.

Findings

Patients with ≥75% lung lesions had higher CRP levels and worse outcomes.

Combining CT lesion extent with biomarkers improved mortality prediction (AUC = 0.78).

Lung lesion extent was independently associated with 60-day mortality (aHR = 1.72).

Abstract

CT-scan and inflammatory and coagulation biomarkers could help in prognostication of COVID-19 in patients on ICU admission.

The objectives of this study were to measure the prognostic value of the extent of lung parenchymal lesions on computed tomography (CT) and of several coagulation and inflammatory biomarkers, and to explore the characteristics of the patients depending on the extent of lung parenchymal lesions.

Retrospective monocentric observational study achieved on a dataset collected prospectively.

Medical ICU of the university hospital of Clermont-Ferrand, France.

All consecutive adult patients aged ≥18 years admitted between 20 March, 2020 and 31 August, 2021 for COVID-19 pneumonia.

Characteristics at baseline and during ICU stay, and outcomes at day 60 were recorded. The extent of lung parenchyma lesions observed on the chest CT performed on admission was established by artificial intelligence software.

Several clinical characteristics and laboratory features were collected on admission including plasma interleukin-6, HLA-DR monocytic–expression rate (mHLA-DR), and the extent of lung parenchymal lesions. Factors associated with day-60 mortality were investigated by uni- and multivariate survival analyses.

270 patients were included. Inflammation biomarkers including the levels of neutrophils, CRP, ferritin and Il10 were the indices the most associated with the severity of the extent of the lung lesions. Patients with more extensive lung parenchymal lesions (≥ 75%) on admission had higher CRP serum levels. The extent of lung parenchymal lesions was associated with a decrease in the PaO2/FiO2 ratio(p<0.01), fewer ventilatory-free days (p = 0.03), and a higher death rate at day 60(p = 0.01). Extent of the lesion of more than 75% was independently associated with day-60 mortality (aHR = 1.72[1.06; 2.78], p = 0.03). The prediction of death at day 60 was improved when considering simultaneously biological and radiological markers obtained on ICU admission (AUC = 0.78).

The extent of lung parenchyma lesions on CT was associated with inflammation, and the combination of coagulation and inflammatory biomarkers and the extent of the lesions predicted the poorest outcomes.

Figures