Ferritin: A promising marker for the management andfollow-up of patients with SARS Cov-2 infection.A retrospective observational study

Background and Aim of the study: We report the data of a studywhose aim was to evaluate the discriminative ability of differentmarkers to identification patients destined to serious/fatal formsof COVID-19 Materials and Methods: We studied 67 patients of our COVIDCenter with a Pneumonia by SARS Cov-2 Based on clinical severity patients were divided into 2 groups;for each, data and clinicalinformation were analyzed, with a comparison between resultsand groups, subsequently highlighting their characteristics anddifferences Results: Of many markers evaluated, a significant increase of serumferritin (FER) was detected in severe (33/52) and fatal (11/33)disease;the high values (652-5,841 ng/mL) were found to be proportional to clinical severity, to interstitial damage and to the use ofmechanical ventilation In the patients with fatal disease extremelyhigh values were found (944-2,535 ng/mL) Other markers werealso found to be related to severe forms, but not as FER The samestudy also found that a value >650 ng/mL corresponded to a persistent positivity to NP swab;this finding guided us in the timing forthe discharge of patients Ferritin increase in COVID seems to be related to cell damage (activation of the RE system) Conclusions: In our study FER dosed proved to be the most reli able and sensitive marker in patient monitoring, in the evaluationof virus persistence and in recognition of potentially fatal forms Further studies are needed to understand the application of itsuse in SARS Cov-2 infection, but FER appears to be a reliablemarker if associated with the clinical practice and in combinationwith other tests