Determining laboratory parameters in pregnant women with severe COVID-19

Suskhan Djusad1, Rima Irwinda1, Achmad Kemal Harzif1

  • 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Jakarta/Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia.

SAGE Open Medicine
|October 24, 2022
PubMed

Insights

This study identified key laboratory markers to differentiate COVID-19 severity in pregnant women. Aspartate transferase, D-dimer, and albumin levels significantly indicate severe or critical coronavirus disease-19 in pregnancy.

Area of Science:

  • Obstetrics and Gynecology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Clinical Pathology

Background:

  • Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) presents a wide clinical spectrum in pregnant women.
  • Limited studies focus on laboratory parameters for differentiating COVID-19 severity in this population.
  • Identifying specific biomarkers is crucial for timely intervention and management of severe COVID-19 in pregnancy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine cut-off values for laboratory parameters that distinguish between asymptomatic/mild/moderate and severe/critical COVID-19 illness in pregnant women.
  • To identify specific laboratory markers that are predictive of severe COVID-19 outcomes in pregnancy.
  • To aid in risk stratification and clinical decision-making for pregnant patients with COVID-19.

Main Methods:

  • A cross-sectional study involving pregnant women diagnosed with COVID-19 between January and August 2021.
  • Data collection included demographic characteristics and a comprehensive panel of laboratory parameters from medical records.
  • Statistical analysis, including receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and multivariate analysis, was performed to identify significant predictors and their cut-off values.

Main Results:

  • Out of 159 cases, 130 (81.8%) had asymptomatic/mild/moderate illness and 29 (18.2%) had severe/critical illness.
  • Twelve of 28 laboratory parameters showed statistical significance in differentiating severity.
  • Multivariate analysis identified aspartate transferase, D-dimer, and albumin as key laboratory parameters significantly impacting COVID-19 severity in pregnant women, with an ROC curve area of 0.834.

Conclusions:

  • Several laboratory parameters, including urea, aspartate transferase, alanine transferase, procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), ferritin, D-dimer, random blood glucose, cycle threshold values, albumin, and chloride, differ between severity groups.
  • Aspartate transferase, D-dimer, and albumin emerged as the most impactful laboratory parameters for predicting COVID-19 severity in pregnant women.
  • These findings provide valuable insights for clinical assessment and management of pregnant individuals with COVID-19.
Abstract