Mortality Predictors in Severe COVID-19 Patients from an East European Tertiary Center: A Never-Ending Challenge for a No Happy Ending Pandemic

Abstract

(1) Background: There are limited clinical data in patients from the Eastern European regions hospitalized for a severe form of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study aims to identify risk factors associated with intra-hospital mortality in patients with COVID-19 severe pneumonia admitted to a tertiary center in Iasi, Romania. (2) Methods: The study is of a unicentric retrospective observational type and includes 150 patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia divided into two subgroups, survivors and non-survivors. Demographic and clinical parameters, as well as comorbidities, laboratory and imaging investigations upon admission, treatments, and evolution during hospitalization were recorded. First, we sought to identify the risk factors associated with intra-hospital mortality using logistic regression. Secondly, we assessed the correlations between D-Dimer and C-reactive protein and predictors of poor prognosis. (3) Results: The predictors of in-hospital mortality identified in the study are D-dimers >0.5 mg/L (p = 0.002), C-reactive protein >5 mg/L (p = 0.001), and heart rate above 100 beats per minute (p = 0.001). The biomarkers were also significantly correlated the need for mechanical ventilation, admission to intensive care unit, or multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. By area under the curve (AUC) analysis, we noticed that both D-Dimer (AUC 0.741) and C-reactive protein (AUC 0.707) exhibit adequate performance in predicting a poor prognosis in patients with severe viral infection. (4) Conclusions: COVID-19′s outcome is significantly influenced by several laboratory and clinical factors. As mortality induced by severe COVID-19 pneumonia is considerable, the identification of risk factors associated with negative outcome coupled with an early therapeutic approach are of paramount importance, as they may significantly improve the outcome and survival rates.