Is Capillary Refill Time an Early Prognostic Factor in COVID-19 Patients?

Aim: Hypoxemia is a vital criterion used to determine prognosis in coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
cases. This study thus examined the effectiveness of capillary refill time (CRT) in defining hypoxiadependent
disease severity in COVID-19 patients.
Patients and Methods: This prospective study was conducted with COVID-19 patients and an agematched
healthy group. The optimum test ambiance was provided, and a stable smartphone platform
was used to record the measurements (in ms) to standardize our method. The captured videos were then
evaluated using a video processing program.
Results: In total, 39 patients with COVID-19 and 40 control groups participated in this study. The patients
were further divided into the moderate (n = 25) or severe group (n = 14) according to disease severity.
The mean oxygen saturation of both moderate/severe groups was above 94%. Per disease severity, the
CRT measurements were higher in the severe group than in the moderate group (p = 0.009). In patients
without lymphopenia (n = 18), CRT values were found to be increased in the severe group (p = 0.008).
The use of CRT in patients with Covid-19 was practicable (AUC: 0.91; 95% CI 0.848-0.978; P = 0.001).
Conclusions: Our results show that CRT prolongation can occur in patients with COVID-19. In patients
without lymphopenia and with normal O2 levels, detecting CRT prolongation may be a criterion for early
admission to ICU.