Clinical and thyroid profile in patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in an intensive care unit

Abstract

- OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to summarize the epidemiological and clinical fea-tures of thyroid function in COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Civil Fray Antonio Alcalde Hospital in Mexico.PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study that included 63 ICU patients with COVID-19 from August 2021 to December 2021. Thyroid function was evaluated through the TSH, T4, T3, and FT3 measures. Co -morbidities such as diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2DM), arterial hypertension (HT), body mass index (BMI), and biochemical biomarkers, including procalcitonin (PCT) and C reactive protein (CRP), were also analyzed.RESULTS: A total of 63 patients with COVID-19 were hospitalized in the ICU; 42 (67\%) were male, and 21 (33\%) were female, with a mean age of 47 (range of 26-76 years). A total of 49 (78\%) patients were non-vaccinated, 5 (8\%) had an incomplete vaccination schedule, and 4 (6\%) had completed the vaccination schedule. Regarding BMI, 10 (16\%) were overweight, and 26 (40\%) reported obesity. When assessing thyroid function, 8 (13\%) patients were euthyroid, and 55 (87\%) showed alterations on the thyroid hormonal axis, mainly a low concentration of TSH (0.56 +/- 0.79; p=0.0001) and FT3 (2.34 +/- 0.52; p=0.0006). In addition, increased PCT concentrations were associated with a higher risk to decease (1.22 vs. 8.21; p=0.0001) in this group of patients.CONCLUSIONS: Based on our findings, it appears that COVID-19 patients with low TSH and FT3 levels, who have not been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, are overweight or obese, and exhibit high levels of PCT are more likely to experience a poor prognosis and even mortality.