Open AccessCOVID-19-Associated Systemic Thromboembolism: A Case Report and Review of the Literature
Author(s) -
Pranav Mahajan,
Bhagwan Dass,
Nila Radhakrishnan,
Peter A. McCullough
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
cardiorenal medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.661
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 1664-3828
pISSN - 1664-5502
DOI - 10.1159/000511800
Subject(s) - medicine , covid-19 , intensive care medicine , pneumonia , venous thromboembolism , bioinformatics , virology , pathology , thrombosis , outbreak , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty) , biology
Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic that has affected >188 countries, involved >24 million people, and caused >840,000 deaths. COVID-19, in its severe form, presents as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), shock, and multiorgan failure. Thrombotic microangiopathy of the lungs and kidneys has been observed in these patients. Elevated D-dimer levels have been observed in people with serious COVID-19 illness, and this could be helpful in guiding treatment with anticoagulation in these patients. Objective: To analyze the role of anticoagulation as a treatment modality for COVID-19. Methods: We present the unique case of a COVID-19 patient who developed sepsis, ARDS, acute kidney injury, and deep-vein thrombosis (DVT), who was deteriorating clinically. She was treated with anticoagulation. Results: There was rapid recovery after treatment with systemic anticoagulation. Conclusions: Systemic anticoagulation could prove to be essential in the treatment of COVID-19. Further studies are required to assess its role in improving long-term morbidity and mortality in these patients.