COVID Snack: Covid-19 and Pulmonary Embolism

Can COVID-19 worsen the risk of blood clots?

▪︎During the COVID-19 era, blood clotting complications have markedly increased. Venous thromboembolism; blood clots in veins, represents the third most common vascular disease after a heart attack and stroke.

▪︎Pulmonary embolism (PE); the condition of blood clots in the lungs, and deep vein thrombosis (DVT); where blood clots are formed in deep veins are the two COVID-19-related thromboembolic complications. Out of these two conditions, COVID-19 patients have twice the risk of developing PE than DVT.

▪︎Factors such as the male gender, ICU admission as well as the use of respiratory machines play a significant role in the development of PE in COVID-19 infected patients.

▪︎Such complications make the battle with the pandemic more difficult. So, what can be done to combat this complication?

▪︎Fortunately, prophylactic therapeutics such as anticoagulants which commonly involve the use of heparin have shown to be promising in significantly reducing pulmonary embolism in COVID-19 infected patients.

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-95512-7

Credits: Meklit Hunde