Correlation of systemic inflammation biomarkers and disease severity in pregnant women with COVID-19

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of whole blood parameters, systemic inflammatory indices, and systemic inflammatory markers in pregnant women with COVID-19. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, the demographic, clinical, and laboratory data (i.e., whole blood parameters, C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, ferritin, and D-dimer) of 464 pregnant women with COVID-19 who attended a tertiary hospital between January and April 2021 were reviewed. Systemic inflammatory indices (i.e., neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, platelet/lymphocyte ratio, platelet/neutrophil ratio, and systemic immune inflammation index) were calculated. Asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic pregnant women were classified as Group 1 (n=413), and those with severe disease were classified as Group 2 (n=51). RESULTS: Lymphocyte count and lymphocyte percentage in whole blood parameters were significantly lower (p<0.05), and C-reactive protein, ferritin, and procalcitonin values were higher in Group 2 (p<0.05). Systemic inflammatory indices [neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (4.7±2.9 (1.1–21.2) vs 7.5±4.7 (2.13–23.2)), platelet/lymphocyte ratio (191.1±104.3 (53.0–807.1) vs 269.5±118.9 (105.0–756.0)), systemic immune inflammation index (1,000±663 (209–5,231) vs 1,630±1,314 (345–7,006))] were found statistically significantly higher in severe disease group (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Evidence in this study indicates that neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, platelet/lymphocyte ratio, and systemic immune inflammation index at first admission are simple, rapid, and inexpensive indices in predicting the prognosis of COVID-19 in pregnant women.