THE ASSOCIATION OF BLOOD TRIGLYCERIDE (TG) CONCENTRATION WITH THE COURSE OF HOSPITALIZATION IN PATIENTS WITH COVID-19.

Introduction: Hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) is a very common problem in clinical practice. Assessment of lipid profile, including TG levels, has now become the subject of numerous studies involving patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Zinellu et al conducted a meta-analysis in which they found that hospitalized patients with COVID-19 with severe disease or patients who did not survive had significantly higher TG levels, compared to patients with milder disease or survival status during hospitalization. Aim: The study evaluated the relationship between TG levels and the course of hospitalization and mortality in patients with COVID-19. Material and methods: Our research included patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Initially, 641 patients with COVID-19 who had TG measured were included in the study. The exlusion criteria was taking statins (n=171). Finally, the medical records of 470 patients were analyzed retrospectively. Analysis of variance (AnOVA) with Welch correction evaluated the relationship between the TG concentration and COVID-19 severity and the final hospitalization course. Admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) is an indicator of the severity of COVID-19 disease. Results: Patients who had a more severe course of COVID-19, due to their transfer to the ICU, were found to have significantly higher mean TG levels than those with a milder course of the disease (224.35±249.39 mg/dl vs. 143.88±153.52 mg/dl; p=0.0176). Mean TG levels during COVID-19 hospital admission were significantly different in patients who died during hospitalization compared to patients who survived (190.76±120.23 mg/dl vs. 157.22±112.92 mg/dl; p=0.0046). Conclusions: Hypertriglyceridemia may be an adverse risk factor for the course of COVID-19. Routine testing of TG levels can be helpful as a marker of residual cardiovascular risk and stratifying the risk of disease severity as well as death in patients with COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]