Association of procalcitonin, C-reaction protein and other risk factors with mortality among COVID-19 patients in Erbil city

Background and objective: The coronavirus disease pandemic, was a serious threat to global health, which attacked the community in December 2019 without warning and had disastrous effects. Inflammatory factors are important for COVID-19 mortality. We aimed to identify potential demographic risk factors as well as the potential role of procalcitonin and other inflammatory biomarkers as indicators of severity and outcome in patients with COVID-19. Methods: A cross-sectional prospective study that was conducted in Lalav Hospital, West Emergency Hospital and a Private clinical center in Erbil city, Iraq. The cases (106) were collected from August 2021 to November 2021. All included patients were diagnosed with COVID-19 through laboratory confirmation using real-time reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results: Our results showed that serum procalcitonin levels were significantly higher and positively correlated with mortality in COVID-19 patients (P = 0.005). The severity of COVID-19 and abnormal serial measurements of plasma D-dimer and serum C- reactive protein levels were found to be significantly correlated (P = 0.028 and P = 0.041, respectively). Diabetes, hypertension, and advanced age were noted as risk factors. Conclusion: Procalcitonin may be an indicator of disease severity. Serial procalcitonin measurements and the recognition of potential risk factors are crucial for predicting the prognosis among COVID-19 patients. Keywords: COVID-19; Procalcitonin; CRP; D-Dimer; Risk factor.