The following is a summary of “Precision symptom phenotyping identifies early clinical and proteomic predictors of distinct COVID-19 sequelae,” published in the June 2024 issue of Infectious Disease by Epsi, et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to investigate whether analyzing inflammatory profiles in recovered patients could help characterize and predict post-COVID conditions (PCC).
They analyzed 1,988 SARS-CoV-2 positive U.S. Military Health System beneficiaries with detailed post-COVID symptom scores through principal component analysis (PCA) followed by K-means clustering, distinct symptom clusters among those reporting moderate-to-severe symptoms six months after infection were identified.
The results showed three symptom-based clusters: a sensory cluster (loss of smell and/or taste), a fatigue/difficulty thinking cluster, and a difficulty breathing/exercise intolerance cluster. Patients in the sensory cluster were exclusively outpatients at their initial COVID-19 presentation. The difficulty breathing cluster exhibited a higher obesity rate and COVID-19 hospitalization risk compared to no/mild symptoms at six months post-infection. Multinomial regression associated early post-infection D-dimer and IL-1RA elevation with fatigue/difficulty thinking and elevated ICAM-1 concentrations with sensory symptoms.
Investigators found three distinct groups of patients with long COVID based on symptoms, associated risk factors, and early inflammatory markers.
Source: academic.oup.com/jid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/infdis/jiae318/7696941
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