Biological Markers to Predict Outcome in Mechanically Ventilated Patients with Severe COVID-19 Living at High Altitude

Background: There is not much evidence on the prognostic utility of different biological markers in patients with severe COVID-19 living at high altitude. The objective of this study was to determine the predictive value of inflammatory and hematological markers for the risk of mortality at 28 days in patients with severe COVID-19 under invasive mechanical ventilation, living at high altitude and in a low-resource setting. Methods: We performed a retrospective observational study including patients with severe COVID-19, under mechanical ventilation and admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) located at 2850 m above sea level, between 1 April 2020 and 1 August 2021. Inflammatory (interleukin-6 (IL-6), ferritin, D-dimer, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)) and hematologic (mean platelet volume (MPV), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), MPV/platelet ratio) markers were evaluated at 24 h and in subsequent controls, and when available at 48 h and 72 h after admission to the ICU. The primary outcome was the association of inflammatory and hematological markers with the risk of mortality at 28 days. Results: We analyzed 223 patients (median age (1st quartile [Q1]–3rd quartile [Q3]) 51 (26–75) years and 70.4% male). Patients with severe COVID-19 and with IL-6 values at 24 h ≥ 11, NLR values at 24 h ≥ 22, and NLR values at 72 h ≥ 14 were 8.3, 3.8, and 3.8 times more likely to die at 28 days, respectively. The SOFA and APACHE-II scores were not able to independently predict mortality. Conclusions: In mechanically ventilated patients with severe COVID-19 and living at high altitude, low-cost and immediately available blood markers such as IL-6 and NLR may predict the severity of the disease in low-resource settings.