Severity of COVID-19 Respiratory Complications during Pregnancy are Associated with Degree of Lymphopenia and Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio on Presentation: A Multicenter Cohort Study
Daniel M. Lasser, Judith Chervenak, Robert M. Moore, Tianying Li, Clementine Knight, Hugo O. Teo, Yogangi Malhotra, on behalf of the New York City Health + Hospitals Perinatal COVID-19 Research Subcommittee
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine if laboratory inflammatory markers can predict critical disease in symptomatic COVID-19 pregnant women. STUDY DESIGN: Multicenter, retrospective cohort study of all pregnant women presenting to New York City Health + Hospitals emergency departments from March 1 to May 30, 2020. We assessed all symptomatic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) positive pregnant women with room air oxygen saturation <95% on presentation. Logistic regression modeled the relationship of inflammatory markers to outcomes. Area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and maximum Youden index determined prognostic ability and optimal predictive cut-off values. RESULTS: /L (96% sensitivity, 52% specificity, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC] = 0.80 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.70-0.90) and NLR >8.1 (100% sensitivity, 70% specificity, AUC = 0.86 (95% CI: [0.76-0.96]). CONCLUSION: ALC and NLR on presentation are sensitive markers of progression to critical COVID-19 disease in symptomatic pregnant women. This finding provides a practical, rapid method for assessment and can assist clinicians with decision-making regarding triage, level of care, and patient management. KEY POINTS: · Few tools exist to gauge risk of severe COVID-19 disease in pregnancy.. · ALC and NLR are sensitive predictive markers of disease progression in symptomatic women.. · Cut-off values for ALC and NLR will help direct patient triage and management..