Research Information System
Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice, vol.33, no.5, 2025 (ESCI, Scopus)
Background The poor outcomes of acute limb ischemia (ALI) associated with COVID-19 lead the clinicians to seek for the investigation of the arterial bed of these patients. Methods The correlation between the prognosis and the findings of ALI patients with COVID-19 who were admitted between January 2020 and December 2021 to a tertiary hospital in a part of the Inner Aegean Region was retrospectively investigated. Results Of all, 15 patients with a mean age of 69.53 ± 12.88 suffered ALI associated with COVID-19 which required revascularization, in this region, during this period. The flu-like syndrome was negatively correlated with mortality in ALI (P = 0.011). The D-dimer levels on the day of acute arterial thromboembolism were higher in nonsurvivors (P = 0.009), however, were not significant at follow-up. The mean neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (15.8 ± 11.8 vs 4.3 ± 1.5; P = 0.002) was markedly higher in nonsurvivors during all course. Aortic thrombi or plaque material existed in 66.7%, while at least 1 [[atherosclerotic risk factor was present in 53.3%. The distal vasculature was the mostly affected side of thromboembolic occlusion. All patients who admitted between April 2021 and December 2021, regarding the late wave of the disease died. Conclusions The deteriorated clinical status was associated with poor outcomes while patients with solely flu-like syndrome exhibit increased survival and more likely to benefit revascularization. D-dimer levels may not have prognostic value at follow-up while neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio has prognostic value during all course in ALI patients. Degenerative findings in arterial vasculature, such as atherosclerosis or vasculitis, that indicate underlying endothelial dysfunction, were common in ALI associated with COVID-19.