The Lactate/Albumin Ratio As A Prognostic Factor For Short Time Mortality In Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients

Abstract

Introduction: The prognostic role of the initial lactate/albumin ratio (LAR) in the critically ill COVID-19 patients remains unknown. We aim to evaluate the prognostic value of the initial LAR in predicting 30-days mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients and compare with the initial level of serum lactate and albumin for the prediction of mortality.Materials and methods: We performed a single-center retrospective and observational clinical study between April 2020 and December 2020. Patients’ clinical and laboratory variables that evaluated in this study were collected within the first 24 hours following the ICU admission.Results: A total of 282 critically ill COVID-19 patients were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 66.34±12.08 years and 179 (63.5%) of patients were male. Patients who died within 30 days had higher lactate levels (p<0.001), lower levels of serum albumin (p<0.001), and higher levels of LAR (p<0.001). ROC analysis showed that LAR (AUC=0.824) was superior to the serum albumin (AUC=0.644) and lactate levels (AUC=0.795) for the prediction of mortality. Overall ICU mortality rates (75.6% vs 13.1%, p<0.001) were significantly higher in patients with LAR >0.60. LAR >0.60 is a significant and independent prognostic factor for the 30-day mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients.Conclusion: LAR has a better prognostic performance for predicting 30-day mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients compared with lactate and albumin