Activities of Serum Ferritin and Treatment Outcomes Among COVID-19 Patients Treated With Vitamin C and Dexamethasone: An Uncontrolled Single-Center Observational Study

Abstract

Background The fatal outcomes by COVID-19 are accompanied by cytokine storm syndrome, and thereby it is reported that disease severity is dependent on the cytokine storm syndrome. This cytokine storm can be assessed by evaluating the serum ferritin levels. The objective of this study was to assess the activities of serum ferritin and treatment outcomes among COVID-19 patients who were treated with dexamethasone and vitamin C.  Materials and methods A single-center, prospective, observational study was conducted among SARS-CoV-2 infected patients from July 2020 to August 2020. The diagnosis was confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and computed tomography (CT) imaging of the lungs. Serum ferritin levels were compared with the treatment outcomes of COVID-19 positive patients who were treated with dexamethasone and vitamin C. Results A total of 50 COVID-19 patients were included in the study. The mean age was 41.70 years. The recovery rate (94%) was remarkably high and is a good sign of COVID 19 treatment with vitamin C and dexamethasone as key modalities. The mean serum ferritin levels among recovered and expired patients were 478.81 ng/ml and 1410 ng/ml, respectively. Conclusion The serum activities of ferritin were markedly increased in COVID-19 patients who could not survive as compared to the patients who finally recovered from the infection.