Lactate Dehydrogenase/Albumin To-Urea Ratio: A Novel Prognostic Maker for Fatal Clinical Complications in Patients with COVID-19 Infection

Abstract

Objective: To investigate lactate dehydrogenase/Albumin to-urea (LAU) ratio as a potential predictor for COVID-19-induced fatal clinical complications in hospitalized patients. Methods: This is a retrospective study involving blood analyses from 1139 hospitalised COVID-19 infection survivors and 349 deceased cases post-COVID-19 infection. Laboratory tests included complete blood picture, inflammatory markers, and routine organ function tests. Results: The non-survivor group showed lower haemoglobin (p p p p p p p p ≤ 0.05). LAU ratio had an area under receiver operating characteristic of 0.67 compared to 0.60 with NLR. Conclusion: Patients with a high LAU ratio are at increased risk of mortality due to COVID-19 infection. Therefore, early assessment of this parameter, intensive intervention and close monitoring could improve their prognosis.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• SARS-CoV
• prognosis
• biomarkers
• lactate dehydrogenase
• albumin ratios