Researchers at Akershus University Hospital have found a blood test marker that can tell early on which patients have a high risk of becoming seriously sick with COVID-19.
The biomarker is called Growth Differentiation Factor-15 (GDF-15), according to newspaper Dagbladet.
The findings were published in the middle of the month in the medical journal Circulation.
“The study shows that there is a strong connection between GDF-15 samples taken early during the hospital stay, and which patients need intensive care or have an increased risk of death,” professor Torbjørn Omland at Akershus University Hospital (Ahus) noted.
“Useful”
According to assistant health director Espen Rostrup Nakstad, a biomarker can rarely be used alone.
Still, it can have a value if it is used together with other parameters, such as oxygen saturation.
“It is always useful to find biomarkers that can improve the prognosis and monitoring of patients.
“If it is easier to identify who has a high risk of a worse disease course after hospitalization, it is, of course, an advantage for both the doctor and the patient,” Nakstad told Dagbladet.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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