Increased lactate dehydrogenase reflects the progression of COVID-19 pneumonia on chest computed tomography and predicts subsequent severe disease

Chest computed tomography (CT) is effective for assessing the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the clinical factors reflecting the disease progression of COVID-19 pneumonia on chest CT and predicting a subsequent exacerbation remain controversial. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 450 COVID-19 patients. We used an automated image processing tool to quantify the COVID-19 pneumonia lesion extent on chest CT at admission. The factors associated with the lesion extent were estimated by a multiple regression analysis. After adjusting for background factors by propensity score matching, we conducted a multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis to identify factors associated with severe disease after admission. The multiple regression analysis identified, body-mass index (BMI), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), C-reactive protein (CRP), and albumin as continuous variables associated with the lesion extent on chest CT. The standardized partial regression coefficients for them were 1.76, 2.42, 1.54, and 0.71. The multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis identified LDH (hazard ratio, 1.003; 95% confidence interval, 1.001–1.005) as a factor independently associated with the development of severe COVID-19 pneumonia. Increased serum LDH at admission may be useful in real-world clinical practice for the simple screening of COVID-19 patients at high risk of developing subsequent severe disease.