Results
The mean age of the patients was 51.4 ± 18.2 years. Forty-two (70%) of the patients were men and 18 (30%) were women. The mean ages of the male and female patients were 55.1 ± 12.5 years and 50.1 ± 10.4 years, respectively (p=0.04). The mean height and weight of the patients were 168.8 ± 9.1 cm and 82.3 ± 11.4 kg, respectively. Three of the patients had previously known coronary artery disease, 5 had diabetes mellitus, and 1 had asthma.
The patients’ laboratory values and pulmonary function test results at admission and on day 7 of treatment are shown in Table 1. White blood cell count, CRP, and fibrinogen values on day 7 of treatment were significantly lower compared to admitting values (p=0.002, 0.001, 0.001, respectively). FEV1 and FVC values on day 7 were significantly higher than those at admission (p=0.001 for both) (Figure 1). Statistical analysis of the patients’ pulmonary function values based on the lower limits of normal (LLN) demonstrated that FEV1 and FVC were significantly reduced at the start of treatment (p=0.05 for both) and higher but not significantly on day 7 of treatment (Figure 1).
Correlation analysis between the changes in respiratory function values and changes in laboratory parameters during follow-up (day 1 to day 7 of treatment) revealed that CRP level was positively correlated with FEV1 (r=0.616, p=0.01) and FVC values (r=0.51, p=0.01) (Figure 2). Fibrinogen level was also positively correlated with FEV1 (r=0.345, p=0.01) and FVC (r=0.357, p=0.01) (Figure 3). Among the laboratory parameters, CRP was found to be correlated with fibrinogen (r=0.609, p=0.01) and ferritin (r=0.308, p=0.017).