Abstract :
Background: The study was conducted to assess the prevalence of hypokalemia in COVID 19 patients and its correlation with severity of infection and requirement of invasive mechanical ventilation.
Materials and Methods: This was a prospective study conducted on COVID-19 patients admitted at tertiary care centre during the study period of 6 months. Detailed history was obtained and patients were subjected to routine and special investigations. Based upon serum potassium levels, patients were categorized into three groups i.e. normokalemia (>3.5 mmol/L), mild hypokalemia (3 to 3.5 mmol/L) and severe hypokalemia (
Results: The study was conducted on 100 patients with mean age of 66.6±12.5 years. Hypokalemia was present in 31% cases. Of them, 25% had mild and 6% cases had severe hypokalemia. Hypokalemia was significantly associated with shorter duration of symptoms; higher mean diastolic blood pressure; higher CURB 65 score; lymphocytopenia; raised serum ferritin, D-dimer and Trop T levels (p
Conclusions: Hypokalemia is common in COVID 19 patients among Indian population. Hypokalemia is associated with severe illness and significantly affect clinical outcome. Hypokalemia is an independent predictor of risk of mechanical ventilation after adjusting for confounding variables.
Keyword :
Hypokalemia, COVID 19, Invasive ventilation, Clinical outcome