Background Over 5,488,000 cases of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) have been reported since December 2019. We aim to explore risk factors associated with mortality in COVID-19 patients and assess the use of D-dimer as a biomarker for disease severity and clinical outcome. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical, laboratory, and radiological characteristics of 248 consecutive cases of COVID-19 in Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China from January 28 to March 08, 2020. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression methods were used to explore risk factors associated with in-hospital mortality. Correlations of D-dimer upon admission with disease severity and in-hospital mortality were analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic curve was used to determine the optimal cutoff level for D-dimer that discriminated those survivors versus non-survivors during hospitalization. Results Multivariable regression that showed D-dimer > 2.0 mg/L at admission was the only variable associated with increased odds of mortality [OR 10.17 (95% CI 1.10–94.38), P = 0.041]. D-dimer elevation (≥ 0.50 mg/L) was seen in 74.6% (185/248) of the patients. Pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis were ruled out in patients with high probability of thrombosis. D-dimer levels significantly increased with increasing severity of COVID-19 as determined by clinical staging (Kendall’s tau-b = 0.374, P = 0.000) and chest CT staging (Kendall’s tau-b = 0.378, P = 0.000). In-hospital mortality rate was 6.9%. Median D-dimer level in non-survivors ( n = 17) was significantly higher than in survivors ( n = 231) [6.21 (3.79–16.01) mg/L versus 1.02 (0.47–2.66) mg/L, P = 0.000]. D-dimer level of > 2.14 mg/L predicted in-hospital mortality with a sensitivity of 88.2% and specificity of 71.3% (AUC 0.85; 95% CI = 0.77–0.92). Conclusions D-dimer is commonly elevated in patients with COVID-19. D-dimer levels correlate with disease severity and are a reliable prognostic marker for in-hospital mortality in patients admitted for COVID-19.
【저자키워드】 Biomarker, Mortality, severity, D-dimer, Coronavirus disease-19, 【초록키워드】 COVID-19, thrombosis, Hospitalization, disease severity, risk factor, Laboratory, Clinical outcome, Probability, sensitivity, specificity, Characteristics, Chest CT, severity of COVID-19, Pulmonary embolism, Wuhan, Patient, Prognostic marker, mortality rate, university, Admission, patients, in-hospital mortality, D-dimer level, COVID-19 patient, AUC, receiver operating characteristic, 95% CI, multivariable logistic regression, D-dimer elevation, Multivariable regression, Renmin Hospital, Cutoff, survivor, over, non-survivor, radiological, Wuhan, China, significantly increased, Result, predicted, analyzed, was used, reported, elevated, were used, determine, significantly higher, patients with COVID-19, 【제목키워드】 COVID-19, disease severity, case control study,