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Covid-19 patients don’t just suffer directly from the virus. It is also affected by numerous comorbidities. The Viennese researchers have now shown the connection to thrombosis of the veins in the legs and pulmonary embolism.
Cihan Ay, Stephan Nopp and Florian Moik from the University Clinic of Internal Medicine I, Clinical Department of Hematology and Haemostaseology, were able to provide accurate data for the first time in a systematic review of all data published worldwide on the topic of “Thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in patients with Covid-19 “. determine the risk of thrombosis in hospitalized patients with Covid-19.
Their result: while patients who must be treated as inpatients but not in an intensive care unit have a risk of five to eleven percent, between 18 and 28 percent of the most seriously ill suffer from thrombosis.
Risk assessment helps with treatment
“Even at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, some studies reported an increase in the rate of thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. On the basis of this, but without corresponding evidence from controlled intervention studies, international therapy concepts were developed. and forced administration of anticoagulants was recommended. Our study now serves a better understanding of this risk and should help to make individual therapy decisions in individual patient groups with the help of an accurate risk assessment2, reports the study leader , Cihan Ay.
Almost 6,000 studies analyzed
For this review article, the authors analyzed and reviewed a total of 5,951 studies, 86 of which reported on rates of thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in patients with Covid-19. Of these, 66 studies (with 28,173 patients) could be used for a meta-analysis to calculate a robust assessment of the risk of thrombosis.
Significantly increased risk of thrombosis
Overall, the prevalence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is 14 percent, although many of the studies used thrombosis prophylaxis. There was some heterogeneity in the subgroups. While the rate of VTE was higher in intensive care Covid 19 patients, at 23 percent, the rate of VTE in patients in the normal ward was 8 percent, a risk that is higher than that of patients. hospitalized with other internal illnesses.
Increased risk of pulmonary embolism
Another special focus of the meta-analysis was the risk assessment of a life-threatening pulmonary embolism.
The result: “This risk is significantly higher than with other serious diseases and is between 10 and 18 percent for patients who require intensive medical care. Surprisingly, almost half of hospitalized patients with Covid-19 who have a The detection of thrombosis was carried out by ultrasound, a thrombosis can be detected “.
Coronavirus affects blood clotting
This recently underscores the influence of Covid-19 on the blood clotting system. It could also be shown that patients who have developed a pulmonary thrombosis or embolism in the course of the disease have a significantly higher D-dimer on admission to hospital, a laboratory value that indicates an activated coagulation system.
Knowledge helps with treatment
According to the authors, these findings now provide a basis for assessing the risk of thrombosis depending on the severity of Covid 19 disease. Future studies should show whether an increase in D-dimer warrants an intensification of blood thinning on hospital admission. .
