The Prognostic Value of Antithrombin Levels in COVID-19 Patients on Intensive Care Unit Admission

Abstract

Objective: Hypercoagulopathy related to hyperinflammation may be responsible for mortality and organ failure in coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients. Abnormal coagulation profiles were associated with poor outcomes. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of antithrombin (AT) levels in critically ill COVID-19 patients on the intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Materials and Methods: Four hundred ten critically ill COVID-19 patients were retrospectively analyzed. Inflammatory and conventional coagulation parameters as well as AT activity levels were recorded on the ICU admission. The clinical outcomes of patients were analyzed. Results: AT levels on the ICU admission were significantly lower in non-survivors than survivors (77.9% vs. 82.5%; p=0.027). Besides AT, D-dimer values of non-survivors were significantly higher than survivors (2775 vs. 1495 µg/L; p<0.001). The cut-off levels for AT and D-dimer were 70.5% and 1585 µg/L, respectively. When AT and D-dimer were analyzed together, mortality estimation was better than only D-dimer or AT. Conclusion: Low AT levels may be indicative of severe disease and mortality together with high D-dimer levels in COVID-19 patients. Diagnosing and managing AT deficiency in COVID-19 patients could be beneficial for survival. So AT level measurements should be included in the routine panel of laboratory investigation.

Keywords

• antithrombin
• covid-19
• d-dimer
• hypercoagulopathy
• mortality