Relationship between Radiological Lung Findings and Laboratory Ferritin and D-Dimer Levels in Patients with COVID-19 Infection

Abstract

Introduction: Pulmonary symptoms of COVID-19 infection range from asymptomatic infection to severe pneumonia. Pathogenesis and severity of symptoms were found to be related to the body’s immune response. Objectives: Ferritin and D-Dimer in COVID-19 confirmed cases can predict lung injury and possible poor patient prognosis. Materials and Methods: Patients who had been admitted to Dr. Sulaiman Alhabib-Arryan Hospital with positive COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests between March 2020 and December 2021 were studied for blood ferritin and D-Dimer levels in relation to pulmonary radiological findings. Results: A total of 494 cases are included in this study. Male patients represent 74.1% of the cases, and the mean age is 51.68 ± 13.37 years. Increased age, ferritin, D-Dimer levels, and respiratory symptoms are factors that showed a statistically significant association with positive computed tomography (CT) findings. Receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) showed that ferritin has a higher capability than D-Dimer to detect CT findings and that both are equal in predicting possible patient mortality. Suggested cutoff values for Ferritin > 336 ng/mL, with 78.21% sensitivity and 86.42% specificity and for D-Dimer > 0.55 mg/L FEU, with sensitivity of 74.82% and specificity of 75.31%. For mortality, the suggested cutoff point for ferritin is >864.6 ng/mL, which gives a sensitivity of 80.26 and a specificity of 64.83%. The suggested cutoff point for D-Dimer is >1.46 mg/L FEU, which gives a sensitivity of 65.79% and a specificity of 78.23%. Conclusion: Laboratory markers such as Ferritin and D-Dimer can be an accurate predictor of lung injury in COVID-19 patients and their increased values can predict the poor patient prognosis and possible mortality if aggressive hospital care is not provided.