ICU Admission Levels of Endothelial Biomarkers as Predictors of Mortality in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients
Alice G. Vassiliou,
Chrysi Keskinidou,
Edison Jahaj,
Parisis Gallos,
Ioanna Dimopoulou,
Anastasia Kotanidou,
Stylianos E. Orfanos
Affiliations
Alice G. Vassiliou
First Department of Critical Care Medicine & Pulmonary Services, GP Livanos and M Simou Laboratories, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Evangelismos Hospital, 10675 Athens, Greece
Chrysi Keskinidou
First Department of Critical Care Medicine & Pulmonary Services, GP Livanos and M Simou Laboratories, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Evangelismos Hospital, 10675 Athens, Greece
Edison Jahaj
First Department of Critical Care Medicine & Pulmonary Services, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Evangelismos Hospital, 10676 Athens, Greece
Parisis Gallos
Health Informatics Laboratory, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
Ioanna Dimopoulou
First Department of Critical Care Medicine & Pulmonary Services, GP Livanos and M Simou Laboratories, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Evangelismos Hospital, 10675 Athens, Greece
Anastasia Kotanidou
First Department of Critical Care Medicine & Pulmonary Services, GP Livanos and M Simou Laboratories, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Evangelismos Hospital, 10675 Athens, Greece
Stylianos E. Orfanos
First Department of Critical Care Medicine & Pulmonary Services, GP Livanos and M Simou Laboratories, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Evangelismos Hospital, 10675 Athens, Greece
Endotheliopathy is suggested to be an important feature of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients. To determine whether endotheliopathy is involved in COVID-19-associated mortality, markers of endothelial damage were assessed in critically ill COVID-19 patients upon intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Thirty-eight critically ill COVID-19 patients were included in this observational study, 10 of whom died in the ICU. Endothelial biomarkers, including soluble (s)E-selectin, sP-selectin, angiopoietin 1 and 2 (Ang-1 and Ang-2, respectively), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (sICAM-1), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), soluble vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin, and von Willebrand factor (vWf), were measured upon ICU admission. The ICU cohort was subsequently divided into survivors and non-survivors; Kaplan–Meier analysis was used to explore associations between biomarkers and survival, while receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to determine their potential prognostic value. sE-selectin, sP-selectin, Ang-2, and sICAM-1 were significantly elevated in ICU non-survivors compared to survivors, and also associated with a higher mortality probability in the Kaplan–Meier analysis. The prognostic values of sE-selectin, Ang-2, and sICAM-1 from the generated ROC curves were greater than 0.85. Hence, we conclude that in our cohort, ICU non-survivors had higher levels of specific endothelial markers compared to survivors. Elevated levels of these markers upon ICU admission could possibly predict mortality in COVID-19.
