Research Information System
WESTERN JOURNAL OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, vol.25, no.6, pp.975-984, 2024 (SCI-Expanded)
Introduction:The workload of physicians increased due to the number of patients presenting withsuspicion of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) and the prolonged wait times in the emergency departmentduring the COVID-19 pandemic. Signal peptide-CUB-EGF domain-containing protein 1 (SCUBE-1) is aprotein present in platelets and endothelial cells; it is activated by inflammation from COVID-19 and maybe associated with COVID-19's known thrombotic risk. We aimed to determine whether SCUBE-1 levelsare diagnostically correlated in suspected COVID-19 patients, and whether SCUBE-1 correlated withseverity of disease and, therefore, might be useful to guide hospitalization/discharge decisions. Methods:The suspected COVID-19 patients cared for at tertiary healthcare institutions for one yearbetween May 2021-May 2022 were examined in this study. The subjects were both suspected COVID-19 patients not ultimately found to have COVID-19 and those who were diagnosed with COVID-19. Bymodifying the disease severity scoring systems present in COVID-19 guidelines in 2021, the COVID-19-positive patient group was classified as mild, moderate, severe, and critical, and compared using theSCUBE-1 levels. Moreover, SCUBE-1 levels were compared between the COVID-19 positive group andthe COVID-19 negative group. Results:A total of 507 patients were considered for the present study. After excluding 175 patients forincomplete data and alternate comorbid organ failure. we report on 332 patients (65.5%). Of these 332patients, 80 (24.0%) were COVID-19 negative, and 252 (76.0%) were COVID-19 positive. Of 252 (100%)patients diagnosedwith COVID-19,74 (29.4%) were classified as mild, 95 (37.7%) moderate, 45 (17.8%)severe, and 38 (15.1%) critical. The SCUBE-1 levels were statistically different between COVID-19positive (8.48 +/- 7.42 nanograms per milliliter [ng/mL]) and COVID-19 negative (1.86 +/- 0.92 ng/mL)patients (P<0.001). In the COVID-19 positive group, SCUBE-1 levels increased with disease severity(mild=3.20 +/- 1.65 ng/mL, moderate=4.78 +/- 2.26 ng/mL, severe=13.68 +/- 3.95 ng/mL, and critical=21.87 +/- 5.39 ng/mL) (P<0.001). The initial SCUBE-1 levels of discharged patients were significantlylower than those requiring hospitalization (discharged=2.89 ng/mL [0.55-8.60 ng/mL]; ward admitted=7.13 ng/mL [1.38-21.29 ng/mL], and ICU admitted=21.19 ng/mL [10.58-37.86 ng/mL]) (P<0.001). Conclusion:The SCUBE-1 levels were found to be differentiated between patients with and withoutCOVID-19 and to be correlated with the severity of illness. [West J Emerg Med. 2024;25(6)975-984.]