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VTE rate, 'COVID toes,' and Virchow's triad: What you need to know about COVID and coagulation
Blood & Cancer
English - May 21, 2020 08:00 - 32 minutes - 50.9 MB - ★★★★★ - 31 ratingsMedicine Health & Fitness Science Life Sciences oncologists radiotherapy cancer chemotherapy doctors healthcare hematologists hematology immunotherapy marrow Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Adam C. Cuker, MD, joins host David H. Henry, MD, to discuss recent findings regarding coagulation in COVID-19 patients. Both Dr. Cuker and Dr. Henry both practice at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Dr. Cuker cited data suggesting at least 25%-30% of patients with COVID-19 develop venous thromboembolism (VTE), despite receiving prophylactic anticoagulation. Furthermore, COVID-19 patients have presented with “lots of different thrombotic manifestations,” he said. This includes stroke and “COVID toes syndrome,” a condition in which patients present with ischemic toes, which appears to have a thromboembolic etiology.
Dr. Cuker suggested that all three aspects of Virchow’s triad may be at play in patients with COVID-19 who have thrombotic manifestations, including:
Circulatory stasis (in patients who are immobilized/sedated/prone/paralyzed). Hypercoagulability (inflammation, high levels of factor VIII and fibrinogen, neutrophil extracellular traps). Endothelial injury (SARS-CoV-2 may infect endothelial cells via ACE2).Dr. Cuker notes that high D-dimer correlates with disease severity and prognosis in COVID-19 patients. He also compares COVID-19 to heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), noting that both are associated with venous and arterial thromboses. And, like HIT patients, those with COVID-19 may require therapeutic-intensity anticoagulation to prevent clots.
Dr. Cuker says his hospital’s recommendations for anticoagulation in COVID-19 patients are as follows:
Stable hospitalized patients should receive standard-intensity prophylaxis. ICU patients should receive intermediate- or therapeutic-intensity anticoagulation (at the discretion of the provider). On discharge, patients should receive low-dose rivaroxaban (Xarelto) at 10 mg daily for 30 days as prophylaxis. A nonhospitalized patient who has no risk factors for thrombotic events should not receive thromboprophylaxis.Dr. Cuker also discusses two recent publications on thrombosis and anticoagulation in COVID-19 patients. In one study, thrombotic events occurred in 31% of COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU at three Dutch hospitals (Thromb Res. 2020 Apr 10. pii: S0049-3848(20)30120-1).
Another study suggested that systemic anticoagulation may improve outcomes of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (J Am Coll Cardiol. 2020 May 5. pii: S0735-1097(20)35218-9).
Show notes by Emily Bryer, DO, resident in the department of internal medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Disclosures:
Dr. Henry has no financial disclosures relevant to this episode.
Dr. Cuker has served as a consultant for Synergy CRO. His institution has received research support on his behalf from Alexion, Bayer, Pfizer, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, Spark, and Takeda.
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