USE OF BIOLOGICAL MARKERS FOR PROGNOSTIC EVALUATION IN COVID-19 PATIENTS: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Objective: The COVID-19 disease causes, mainly, infection of the lower respiratory tract, although some patients may develop complications in other systems, requiring intensive care. Thus, given the variation in the severity of cases, which ranges from asymptomatics to serious conditions, new studies started to approach some biomarkers to predict the disease’s prognosis.  Therefore, this article aims to evaluate the principal biomarkers mentioned in the literature to forecast COVID-19 patient's prognosis. Methods: A narrative literature review was carried out using the PUBMED / Medline and SciELO databases, in order to identify the main biomarkers that can be used in the prognostic assessment of patients with COVID-19. Free and complete articles were analysed, in portuguese and english languages, since they have been published within 1 year. In this way, 40 studies made up the final sample. Results: It was analyzed the albumin, d-dimer (DD), lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), ferritin, fibrinogen, interleukin 6 (IL-6), lymphopenia and neutrophilia, procalcitonine, C reactive protein (PCR) and cardiac troponin T and I, characterizing the peculiarities of each one facing the disease. Conclusion: It was evident that DD, LDH, IL-6, lymphopenia, neutrophilia and CRP were highlighted as the best biomarkers to predict severity and worst prognosis in COVID-19 patients. However, all mentioned studies present pontual limitations, which requires more studies to measure and evaluate other biomarkers.