Cause of COVID-19 blood clotting identified

Editor's Note

In this study, Yale researchers found that endotheliopathy and platelet activation might be important factors in the pathophysiology of COVID-19-associated coagulopathy.

The researchers examined the blood of 68 COVID-19 patients, 48 of them in ICU and 20 receiving care in a hospital unit, along with 13 disease free volunteers who served as controls.

Several markers of endothelial cell and blood platelet activation were about twice as high in the ICU group as in the non-ICU group, and higher in the ICU group than the control group.

One of the biomarkers, a soluble form of a protein on the surface of endothelial cells, called thrombomodulin, was highly associated with survival in COVID-19 patients. Soluble thrombomodulin concentrations greater than 3.26 ng/mL were associated with lower rates of hospital discharge and lower likelihood of survival.

The findings suggest that measuring thrombomodulin levels might aid in managing patients, the researchers say.