Serum ferritin at admission in hospitalized COVID-19 patients as a predictor of mortality

Some COVID-19 patients have higher mortality and the responsible factors for this unfavorable outcome is still not well understood. To study the association between ferritin levels at admission, representing an inflammatory state, and hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients. From May through July 2020, SARS-CoV-2 positive patients with moderate to severe clinical symptoms were evaluated at admission, regarding clinical and laboratory data on renal and hepatic function, hematologic parameters, cytomegalovirus co-infection, and acute phase proteins. A total of 97 patients were included; mean age=59.9±16.3 years, 58.8% male, 57.7% non-white, in-hospital mortality=45.4%. Age, ferritin, C-reactive protein, serum albumin and creatinine were significantly associated with mortality. Ferritin showed area under the curve (AUC) of 0.79 (p