Mortality and bleeding complications of COVID-19 critically ill patients with venous thromboembolism

Link to article at PubMed

Int Angiol. 2021 Nov 9. doi: 10.23736/S0392-9590.21.04704-0. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: VTE disease in COVID-19 patients is a remarkable issue, especially its relationship with bleeding events and mortality. The objective of this study was to describe the outcomes of critically ill patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in ICU in relationship with VTE during their stay.

METHODS: Prospective cohort study of critically ill COVID-19 patients in two hospitals that underwent a venous ultrasound at the beginning of follow-up of both lower limbs in April 2020. When clinical suspicion of new VTE during the 30-day follow-up, additional ultrasound or thoracic CT were performed. Global VTE frequency, major bleeding events and survival were collected, and their predictors were studied.

RESULTS: We included 230 patients. After 30 days of follow-up, there were 95 VTE events in 86 patients (37,4%). 13 patients (5,7%) developed major bleeding complications and 42 patients (18,3%) died. None of the comorbidities or previous treatments were related with bleeding events. D-dimer at admission was significantly related with VTE development and mortality. Independent predictors of mortality in the regression model were an older age (>66 years), D-dimer at admission (>1 500ng/mL) and low lymphocyte count (<0,45x109/L) with an AUC in the ROC curve of 0,81 (95%CI: 0,73-0,89). Patients presenting these three conditions presented a mortality of a 100% in the predictive model.

CONCLUSIONS: VTE frequency in ICU COVID-19 patients is high and risk of major bleeding is low. Comorbidities and laboratory parameters of admission in these patients can be a useful tool to predict mortality.

PMID:34751541 | DOI:10.23736/S0392-9590.21.04704-0

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *