TABLE 1.
Functional Parameters of the Microcirculation in Critically Ill Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients Are Dependent on the Severity of Disease
| Microcirculatory Parameters | COVID-19 Patients | Healthy Volunteers (n = 33 Patients) | pDISEASE STATE | pSOFA | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall (n = 34 Patients) | COVID-19 Patients, SOFA < 10 (n = 22 Patients) | COVID-19 Patients, SOFA ≥ 10 (n = 12 Patients) | ||||
| Total vessel density (mm mm–2) | 22.8 ± 5.1 | 23.6 ± 5.3 | 20.8 ± 4.2 | 20.0 ± 3.3 | < 0.001 | 0.02 |
| Functional capillary density (mm mm–2) | 22.2 ± 4.8 | 22.95 ± 4.96 | 20.31 ± 3.98 | 18.9 ± 3.2 | < 0.0001 | 0.02 |
| Proportion of perfused vessels (%) | 97.6 ± 2.1 | 0.98 ± 0.02 | 0.98 ± 0.02 | 0.95 ± 0.06 | 0.02 | 0.94 |
| RBC velocity (μm s–1) | 362 ± 48 | 356 ± 50 | 376 ± 40 | 306 ± 53 | < 0.0001 | 0.29 |
| Capillary hematocrit (%) | 5.3 ± 1.3 | 5.5 ± 1.3 | 4.8 ± 0.8 | 4.7 ± 0.8 | < 0.01 | 0.02 |
| Capillary-to-systemic hematocrit ratio (1) | 0.18 ± 0.0 | 0.18 ± 0.04 | 0.17 ± 0.04 | 0.11 ±0.0 | < 0.0001 | 0.57 |
| Leukocytes (4 s–1) | 17.6 ± 6.7 | 16.5 ± 6.2 | 19.6 ± 7.5 | 5.2 ±2.3 | < 0.0001 | 0.09 |
| Microaggregates (4 s–1) | 0.90 ± 1.12 | 0.80 ± 0.87 | 1.12 ± 1.51 | 0.00 ± 0.00 | < 0.0001 | 0.28 |
SOFA = Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score.
Data are presented as the mean ± sd. p values are given for linear mixed-model analysis with disease state and SOFA subgroups as fixed effects and individual per-patient random slopes as random effects. Overall differences between the coronavirus disease 2019 patients and healthy volunteers are represented by pDISEASE STATE and were evaluated using a likelihood ratio test of the full model versus a partial model disregarding disease state as the effect in question. Subgroup analysis to determine individual effects of patients with high or low SOFA scores is represented by pSOFA and was calculated using Satterthwaite approximation.