Table 1.
Demographics, clinical characteristics, and endothelium-related protective molecules of hospitalized COVID-19 patients upon admission (within 24 h).
| Characteristics | ARDS | Non-ARDS | P-value | Reference Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of patients, N | 68 | 21 | ||
| Age (years), (mean ± SD) | 62 ± 13 | 61 ± 13 | 0.8 | |
| Sex, N (%) | >0.9 | |||
| Male | 53 (77.9) | 17 (80.9) | ||
| Female | 15 (22.1) | 4 (19.1) | ||
| Comorbidities, N (%) | 50 (73.5) | 17 (80.9) | 0.6 | |
| ICU vs. ward, N (%) | <0.0001 * | |||
| ICU | 60 (88.2) | 7 (33.3) | ||
| Ward | 8 (11.8) | 14 (66.7) | ||
| Sick days prior to admission, (mean ± SD) | 7 ± 3 | 6 ± 4 | 0.2 | |
| APACHE II, (mean ± SD) † | 14 ± 5 | 8 ± 6 | <0.0001 * | |
| SOFA, (median, IQR) † | 6 (4–8) | 3 (2–3) | <0.0001 * | |
| White blood cell count (per μL), (median, IQR) Neutrophils (%), (median, IQR) Lymphocytes (%), (median, IQR) Platelets (per μL), (median, IQR) CRP (mg/dL), (median, IQR) Fibrinogen (mg/dL), (mean ± SD) D-dimers (µg/mL), (median, IQR) LDH (U/L), (median, IQR) Ferritin (ng/mL), (median, IQR) Lactate (mmol/L), (mean ± SD) |
8760 (5915–11,370) 83 (76–88) 12 (7–17) 225,000 (169,000–27,000) 11.5 (5.4–20.4) 630 ± 179 1.05 (0.46–2.29) 434 (339–574) 682 (265–2006) 1.5 ± 0.6 |
5630 (4355–12,405) 83 (63–87) 13 (9–29) 195,000 (155,250–269,500) 4.8 (1.6–11.1) 548 ± 151 0.74 (0.51–1.36) 257 (211–391) 376 (164–868) 1.4 ± 0.5 |
0.2 0.6 0.2 0.3 0.002 * 0.1 0.2 <0.0001 * 0.2 0.8 |
4–10.5 × 103 40–70 25–45 140–450 × 103 <0.5 200–400 <0.5 <225 10–250 <2.0 |
| Soluble endothelial–related molecules eNOS (ng/mL), (median, IQR) iNOS (pg/mL), (median, IQR) ADM (pg/mL), (median, IQR) sACE2 (pg/mL), (median, IQR) sACE (U/L), (median, IQR) |
3570 (2405–6030) 6138 (4200–23,131) 543 (357–1057) 8700 (4313–13,325) 30 (23–43) |
6070 (4025–7830) 6763 (3300–23,288) 608 (514–794) 125 (10–5225) 29 (18–42) |
0.02 * 0.7 0.4 <0.0001 * 0.5 |
|
| Outcomes | ||||
| Mechanical ventilation, N (%) | 50 (73.5) | 4 (19.0) | <0.0001 * | |
| MV duration (days), (median, IQR) | 8 (1–22) | 0 (0–0) | <0.001 * | |
| LoS (days), (median, IQR) | 18 (13–30) | 8 (6–22) | 0.002 * | |
| In–hospital mortality, N (%) | 23 (33.8) | 3 (14.3) | 0.1 |
* p–value < 0.05. Data are expressed as number of patients (N), percentages of total related variable (%) and mean ± SD for normally distributed variables and median (IQR) for skewed data. Patients were divided into two groups depending on the presence of ARDS on hospital admission. For differences between the two groups, either Student’s t-test for normally distributed data, the Mann–Whitney test for skewed data, or the chi-square test for nominal data was used. Characteristics were measured once (within 24 h of hospital admission). † APACHE II and SOFA score were calculated on ICU admission in 60 critically ill COVID-19 ARDS patients and 7 critically ill COVID-19 non-ARDS patients. Definition of abbreviations: ADM = adrenomedullin; APACHE II = acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II; ARDS = acute respiratory distress syndrome; CRP = C–reactive protein; eNOS = endothelial nitric oxide synthase; iNOS = inducible nitric oxide synthase; LDH = lactate dehydrogenase; LoS = length of stay; MV = mechanical ventilation; sACE = serum angiotensin converting enzyme; sACE2 = soluble angiotensin converting enzyme 2; SOFA = sequential organ failure assessment.