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Table 2 Patient characteristics and clinical parameters on ICU admission and on the day patients developed a secondary infection (alignment day) within the D−T−, D+T− and D+T+ groups

From: Dexamethasone and tocilizumab treatment considerably reduces the value of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin to detect secondary bacterial infections in COVID-19 patients

 

No DEXA, no TOCI (D−T−)

DEXA, no TOCI (D+T−)

DEXA and TOCI (D+T+)

Secondary infection (n = 33)

No secondary infections (n = 33)

p value

Secondary infection (n = 13)

No secondary infections (n = 18)

p value

Secondary infection (n = 25)

No secondary infections (n = 28)

p value

Sex, male

26 (79)

23 (70)

0.57

9 (69)

12 (67)

1.00

19 (76)

18 (64)

0.39

Age, years

67 [60–73]

65 [56–70]

0.17

67 [59–73]

71 [60–73]

0.76

68 [59–71]

63 [56–72]

0.38

BMI, kg/m2

27.6 [25.4–31.1]

27.7 [24.3–30.7]

0.40

29.4 [25.5–32.5]

29.8 [27.5–32.0]

0.48

27.5 [26.0–34.4]

29.4 [26.3–35.1]

0.54

APACHE II

15 [13–19]

15 [10–19]

0.77

15 [12–22]

17 [13–21]

0.32

19 [15–22]

16 [12–22]

0.20

Time from first COVID-19 symptoms until ICU admission, days

10 [7–13]

10 [6–14]

0.96

9 [6–12]

10 [8–12]

0.45

9 [5–12]

10 [9–11]

0.40

Medical history

Renal insufficiency

0 (0)

1 (3)

1.00

1 (8)

1 (6)

1.00

0 (0)

1 (4)

1.00

Metastatic neoplasm

2 (6)

3 (9)

1.00

0 (0)

1 (6)

1.00

1 (4)

0 (0)

0.47

Immunological insufficiency

0 (0)

1 (3)

1.00

0 (0)

1 (6)

1.00

1 (4)

3 (11)

0.61

COPD

3 (9)

3 (9)

1.00

1 (8)

4 (22)

0.37

3 (12)

3 (11)

1.00

Diabetes mellitus

11 (33)

4 (12)

0.08

4 (31)

8 (44)

0.48

7 (28)

7 (25)

1.00

Hypertension

17 (52)

16 (48)

1.00

8 (62)

12 (67)

1.00

13 (52)

15 (54)

1.00

Clinical parameters on alignment day

Temperature, Celsius

38.9 [37.8–40.0]

38.2 [37.3–38.9]

0.03

38.0 [37.2–38.6]

37.6 [36.7–38.2]

0.33

37.0 [36.7–38.6]]

37.3 [36.9–37.9]

0.90

Leukocytes, × 109/L

16.1 [12.9–20.2]

11.7 [9.3–13.0]

0.001

10.7 [8.1–16.1]

10.9 [9.9–14.5]

1.00

10.0 [7.3–14.6]

9.1 [6.1–14.6]

0.48

  1. All statistically significant p-values are depicted in italics
  2. Data of the no secondary infection groups were aligned on the median day following ICU admission that the secondary infections occurred in the affected groups. p values were calculated using Mann–Whitney or Chi-square tests. Data are presented as n (%) or median [IQR]