Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the study population—distribution at ICU admission
Variable | Overall (n = 120) | CVP (n = 48) | Non-CVP (n = 72) | p | pIPTW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Demographic variables | |||||
Age (years) | 66 [54–75] | 61 [53–72] | 69 [55–76] | 0.044 | 0.724 |
Female Gender | 36 (30%) | 12 (25%) | 24 (33%) | 0.417 | 0.277 |
BMI (kg/m2) | 27.7 [24.5–32.5] | 29.8 [25.0–34.4] | 27.1 [23.9–31.3] | 0.058 | 0.558 |
“First COVID-19 wave” | 28 (23%) | 3 (6%) | 25 (35%) | < 0.001 | 0.194 |
Coexisting conditions | |||||
Number of coexisting conditions | 3 [1–4] | 3 [2–5] | 2 [1–4] | 0.019 | 0.905 |
Hypertension | 94 (78%) | 43 (90%) | 51 (70%) | 0.022 | 0.838 |
Diabetes | 46 (38%) | 23 (48%) | 23 (33%) | 0.088 | 0.825 |
Atrial fibrillation | 24 (20%) | 15 (31%) | 9(13%) | 0.019 | 0.163 |
Coronary heart disease$ | 31 (26%) | 14 (29%) | 17 (24%) | 0.520 | 0.457 |
Congestive heart failure | 30 (25%) | 17 (24%) | 13 (27%) | 0.672 | 0.738 |
Peripheral arterial disease | 23 (19%) | 15 (21%) | 8 (17%) | 0.641 | 0.195 |
Thromboembolic disease | 18 (15%) | 10 (21%) | 8 (11%) | 0.132 | 0.680 |
Chronic renal failure | 35 (24%) | 18 (38%) | 17 (24%) | 0.107 | 0.994 |
Dialysis | 9 (8%) | 3 (6%) | 6 (8%) | 0.740 | 0.104 |
COPD | 16 (13%) | 10 (14%) | 6 (13%) | 1.000 | 0.742 |
Asthma | 13 (10%) | 8 (17%) | 5 (7%) | 0.130 | 0.498 |
Prior cancer in complete remission | 13 (10%) | 8 (17%) | 5 (7%) | 0.507 | 0.226 |
Active malignancy | 9 (8%) | 5 (10%) | 4 (6%) | 0.105 | 0.228 |
Dementia | 4 (3%) | 2 (4%) | 2 (3%) | 1.000 | 0.947 |
Prior organ transplantation | 5 (4%) | 5 (10%) | 0 (0%) | 0.009 | N/E |
Immunosuppression† | 18 (15%) | 15 (30%) | 3 (4%) | < 0.001 | 0.009 |
ICU risk stratification | |||||
mSOFA (points) | 5 [4–7] | 6 [4–8] | 4 [3–5] | < 0.001 | 0.204 |
paO2/FiO2 | 92 [77–150] | 81 [71–96] | 113 [83–186] | < 0.001 | 0.198 |
PEEP (mmHg)—maximum | 11 [9–12] | 11 [9–13] | 10 [9–12] | 0.157 | 0.623 |
Acute respiratory failure grade (inspired by ARDS Berlin 2012-classification) | / | / | / | < 0.001 | 0.140 |
Severe | 76 (63%) | 42 (88%) | 34 (47%) | / | / |
Moderate | 30 (25%) | 6 (13%) | 24 (33%) | / | / |
Mild | 14 (12%) | 0 (0%) | 14 (19%) | / | / |
Ventilation (maximum invasivity) | / | / | / | 0.400 | 0.364 |
Intubated | 55 (46%) | 25 (52%) | 30 (42%) | / | / |
vvECMO | 7 (6%) | 3 (6%) | 4 (6%) | / | / |
NIV | 47 (39%) | 18 (38%) | 29 (40%) | / | / |
HFNC | 11 (9%) | 2 (4%) | 9 (13%) | / | / |
Any invasive ventilation | 62 (52%) | 28 (58%) | 34 (47%) | 0.233 | 0.130 |
CVP characteristics | |||||
Length of symptoms before first transfusion (days) | / | 4 [1–10] | / | / | |
Antibody concentration (AU/ml) | / | 79.2 [46.6–99.7] | / | / | |
Administered dose of CVP (ml) | / | 600 [600–600] | / | / | |
Laboratory values | |||||
Lactate (mmol/l) | 2.7 [1.6–3.8] | 2.9 [2.3–4.1] | 1.9 [1.2–3.1] | 0.003 | 0.646 |
IL-6 (pg/ml)* | 125 [65–245] | 171 [85–334] | 104 [40–204] | 0.017 | 0.680 |
CRP (mg/l) | 110 [63–187] | 145 [104–200] | 96 [42–169] | < 0.001 | 0.157 |
Ferritin (ng/ml)* | 1240 [523–2090] | 1940 [799–2829] | 910 [456–1479] | < 0.001 | 0.028 |
hs-TnT (pg/ml)* | 18 [9–31] | 18 [8–26] | 19 [11–54] | 0.200 | 0.263 |
d-Dimer (mg/l)* | 2.3 [1.1–4.8] | 2.5 [1.4–5.4] | 2.0 [0.9–4.7] | 0.172 | 0.484 |
SARS-CoV-2-Antibody positivity at ICU admission | 49 (49%) | 3 (7%) | 46 (85%) | < 0.001 | 0.001 |
Blood counts | |||||
Leukocytes [G/l] | 8.3 [5.1–11.4] | 6.0 [4–1–10.1] | 8.7 [6.3–12.3] | 0.007 | 0.020 |
Neutrophiles [G/l] | 6.5 [2.4–9.1] | 4.6 [3.0–7.6] | 7.2 [4.0–9.4] | 0.005 | 0.042 |
Lymphocytes [G/l] | 0.7 [0.5–1.2] | 0.7 [0.4–1.1] | 0.7 [0.5–1.2] | 0.226 | 0.694 |
Thrombocytes [G/l] | 174 [129–279] | 179 [135–292] | 177 [127–236] | 0.415 | 0.006 |
Specific medication | |||||
Glucocorticoids§ | 120 (100%) | 48 (100%) | 72 (100%) | 1.000 | N/A |
Remdesivir | 19 (17%) | 8 (17%) | 11 (15%) | 0.796 | 0.215 |
Hydroxychloroquin | 15 (13%) | 6 (13%) | 9 (13%) | 1.000 | |
Tocilizumab | 6 (5%) | 4 (8%) | 2 (3%) | 0.403 | N/A |