Abstract
Objective:
In this retrospective study, we assessed if the admission levels of interleukin (IL)-6 and other inflammatory parameters corralate with the extension of lung involvement on computed tomography (CT) in severe-critical COVID patients.
Materials and Methods:
Ninety patients with a diagnosis of COVID-19 in the intensive care unit were included; however, 30 of these patients who were diagnosed as COVID-19 [polymerase chain reaction (PCR), CT, or history-clinical presentation-laboratory] and whose CT and IL-6 inflamatory parameter results could be obtained were finally analyzed.
Admission CT scan findings were analyzed according to a 40-point system, and compared to the admission levels of plasma IL-6 as well as c-reactive protein, procalcitonin, lymphocyte, and neutrophyl/lymphocyte ratios.
Results:
No correlation was found between the IL-6 levels and CT scores taken in the same time period. IL-6 levels were corraleted with procalcitonin levels and mortality rate ssuggesting that bacterial infections were supervened on the clinical scene of these patients.
Conclusion:
In our study, we could not show any correlation between CT scores and an elevation of IL-6 levels. The role of the cytokine storm in COVID-19 pneumonia that manifests with cell death, thrombotic sequences, and alveolar edema might be explained by ongoing studies.
Keywords: COVID-19, CT score, IL-6, intensive care
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Copyright and license
Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
