Study of correlation of D-Dimer with covid-19 infection in diabetic patients

Abstract

Introduction: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) which is the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has rapidly spread around the world. D-dimer, a fibrin breakdown product, is frequently employed as a biomarker and prognostic marker of thromboembolism to predict the severity of the illness. COVID-19 is a procoagulant condition. Present study was aimed to study the levels of D-dimers in diabetic patients with COVID 19 infection. Materials and Methods: Present study is a cross sectional prospective study conducted from duration September 2022 to September 2023. 50 laboratory-confirmed (RTPCR or RAT) COVID-19 cases who were already diagnosed of diabetes were admitted. All enrolled patients were categorized into mild, moderate & severe on the basis of severity. D-dimer was evaluated in each patient by immunofluorescence. Observations and Results: Mild COVID-19 case was only 1 (2 %), moderate were 38 (76 %) & severe were 11 (22 %). Mild severity COVID-19 case was having D-dimer < 1.5 µg/ml. Amongst moderate severity COVID-19 case i.e 38 (76 %), 31 (62 %) had D-dimer < 1.5 µg/ml & 7 (14 %) had D-dimer ≥1.5 µg/ml. Amongst severe severity COVID-19 case i.e 11 (22 %), 2 (4 %) had D-dimer < 1.5 µg/ml & 9 (18 %) had D-dimer ≥1.5 µg/ml. D-dimer level & severity of COVID-19 showed statistically significant correlation (P=0.0002). Conclusion: To conclude, D-dimer levels can be correlated with severity of COVID-19 & these correlations can be used for risk assessment & choosing appropriate management

Keywords: COVID-19, D-dimers, diabetic patients