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Lymphopenia and IgG2 subclass deficiency in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia.
- Source :
-
African journal of thoracic and critical care medicine [Afr J Thorac Crit Care Med] 2021 Mar 30; Vol. 27 (2). Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Mar 30 (Print Publication: 2021). - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Background: COVID-19 caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) manifests with a range of disease severities. A small proportion of COVID-19 patients are severely ill; however, a significant proportion of these patients are critically ill, and require admission and mechanical ventilation, which is associated with a high mortality.<br />Objective: To identify factors that may predispose patients with COVID-19 to severe disease that requires mechanical ventilation (MV).<br />Methods: We performed a retrospective audit of patients admitted with COVID-19 pneumonia to the intensive care unit (ICU) and medical wards to evaluate the potential associations between comorbid conditions, lymphopenia and IgG subclass deficiency with a need for MV.<br />Results: A total of 51 patients were included in the study. Almost half of the patients (47%; n=24) were documented to have IgG2 deficiency, 43% (n=22) had lymphopenia and 37% (n=19) had combined lymphopenia and IgG2 subclass deficiency. Of the 24 patients who required MV, 75% had IgG2 subclass deficiency, 73% had lymphopenia and 50% had both. The relative risk for requiring MV was 2.64, 3.38 and 2.81 for lymphopenia, IgG2 subclass deficiency and both, respectively.<br />Conclusion: These findings suggest that lymphopenia, low IgG2 concentrations or the combination of both may be used to identify patients with severe COVID-19 that are at increased risk for MV. This may facilitate earlier identification of patients at high risk, who may benefit from more intensive therapy.<br />Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest: None.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 2617-0205
- Volume :
- 27
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- African journal of thoracic and critical care medicine
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 34430865
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.7196/AJTCCM.2021.v27i2.134