Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic Of Iran

en Evaluation of the Sensitivity of Prominent Biomarkers Involvement in Diagnosing the Severity of Lung Damage in Patients with COVID-19 Infectious Disease Infectious Disease Original Research Original Research Background: COVID-19 has become the greatest pandemic of the century. Considering the role of some hematologic and biochemical factors and their alterations due to the activity of the immune system, the current study aimed to evaluate LDH/CRP/ESR/RDW in patients with COVID-19 and their relationship with the severity of lung involvement based on CT scan findings.    Methods: In this cross-sectional study, some biomarkers (LDH/CRP/ESR/RDW) were measured in 158 patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) or hospitalized in the infectious diseases ward of Rasoul-e-Akram and Firoozgar hospitals or attended to the outpatient clinics. The diagnosis was confirmed by a positive RT-PCR test in all patients. The severity of lung involvement was determined by CT scan findings for comparison. Data were collected and analyzed through SPSS version 22.    Results: Regarding the severity of lung damage according to the CT scan, 17.7% of the patients were normal, 19% had less than 25% involvement, 17% had 25% -50% involvement, 33.5% had 50% -75% involvement, and 12% had more than 75% involvement. Considering the increasing severity of lung damage based on CT scans, the levels of RDW, ESR, CRP, and LDH significantly increased in parallel. The diagnostic value of RDW (cut-off point: 12.6, Sen: 73.1% (95%CI: 65.1-79.5), Sp: 53.6% (95%CI: 45.7-61.7), ESR (cut-off point: 49, Sen: 46.9% (95%CI: 38.2-54.5)), Sp: 85.7% (95%CI: 789.-90.5)), CRP (cut-off point: 23, Sen: 62.8%  (95%CI: 54.6-70.4), Sp: 77.7%  (95%CI: 70.3-84.1)) and LDH (cut-off point: 550, Sen: 65.1%  (95%CI: 57.2-72.5), Sp: 85.7% (95%CI: 78.9-90.5)) were significant in diagnosing the severity of lung involvement (P < 0.05).    Conclusion: The use of RDW, ESR, CRP, and LDH biomarkers could be effective in predicting the severity of lung damage in patients with COVID-19.   COVID-19, Lung Damage, Computed Tomography, Biomarkers 92 97 http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-7298-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Shima Khodadadi khodadadishima06@gmail.com 200319475328460076311 200319475328460076311 No Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Nastaran Khodakarim khodakarim.n@iums.ac.ir 200319475328460076312 200319475328460076312 Yes Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Saeed Kalantari Kalantariseead45@gmail.com 200319475328460076313 200319475328460076313 No Department of Infectious Diseases, Rasool Akram hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Mitra Ranjbar Davijani Ranjbardavijan_mitra23@gmail.comi 200319475328460076314 200319475328460076314 No Department of Infectious Diseases, Firoozgar hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Hussein Nasri husseinnasri20054@yahoo.com 200319475328460076315 200319475328460076315 No Department of Infectious Diseases, Firoozgar hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Usef kheiri u_kheiri1945@yahoo.com 200319475328460076316 200319475328460076316 No Department of Infectious Diseases, Rasool Akram hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran