Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 infection can induce disturbances of several biochemical parameters especially in patients with severe or critical forms of the disease. The aim of this study is to evaluate the predictive markers of the severity of COVID-19.Materials and methods: Retrospective descriptive study, involving 129 COVID-19 positive patients. Patients were classified into two cohorts: severe (n=103) and non-severe (n=26) cases. The ROC curve and the associated area under the curve determination were used to determine the predictors of disease severity.Results: The comparison between the two groups shows that the values of AST, GGT, LDH, CPK, CRP, Ferritin, PCT, Urea, Magnesium, Troponin I and BNP were significantly higher in patients with severe forms of COVID-19 compared to those with non-severe forms. While albumin, Chlorine and Calcium were significantly decreased in severe patients. ROC curve analysis showed that Albumin (AUC = 0.779), LDH (AUC = 0.798) and PCT (AUC = 0.732) have a medium predictive value for the severity of COVID-19. While the prognostic value were good for BNP (AUC = 0.854), CRP (AUC = 0.845) and high sensitivity Troponin I (AUC = 0.812).Conclusion: The identification of biological factors predictive of the severity and/or mortality of COVID-19 infection will allow the development of predictive models of disease severity and their complementary uses in clinical practice for risk stratification and for early and adapted management to minimize the mortality rate and for rational allocation of medical resources.

The role of the natriuretic peptide assay: brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal pro-BNP natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in the diagnosis and prognosis in patients with heart failure has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This dosage is more and more frequently requested in the hospital environment, particularly in the context of the differential diagnosis of dyspnea in a patient presenting to the emergency department. The difficulty for the biologist is to choose between the dosage of BNP biologically active hormone and the assay of NT-proBNP, non-active peptide. This is a bibliographic study that consists of the analysis of different clinical and bibliographic studies that have compared the dosage of these two cardiac markers. The BNP assay is faster and is characterized by a lower glomerular filtration dependence compared to NT-proBNP and a shorter half-life that allows to rapidly monitor its variations. However, because of its excellent stability, the NT-proBNP makes it possible to avoid the false negatives due to the delay of delivery in the university centers. It is performed by automated technique which allows an easy realization of a large number of tests and it also allows a better detection of the early stages of heart failure.