Patients with Covid-19 may suffer changes in their blood clotting pattern and, as a result, develop arterial and venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Given this finding, researchers from the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM) at Unicamp and 19 other research institutions – members of the Brazilian Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis (SBTH) and the Brazilian Association of Hematology, Hemotherapy and Cellular Therapy (ABHH) – published a guide for the prevention, detection and treatment of venous thromboembolism in patients with Covid-19.
The publication, published in the International Magazine Hematology Transfusion and Cell Therapy from ABHH, presents a review of recent medical evidence on thromboses seen in patients with Covid-19. The objective of the material is to serve as a guide for health professionals who work to combat the disease in Brazil. See the guide here.
According to the professor at the Department of Clinical Pathology at FCM, Fernanda Orsi – who at the faculty, worked on the preparation of the guide together with the professors at the Department of Clinical Medicine, Joyce Annichino-Bizzacchi and Erich Vinícius de Paula – the prevention of thrombosis It is an essential part of the treatment of infected patients.
“Evidence shows that, in parallel with severe acute respiratory syndrome, patients with Covid-19 show signs of hypercoagulability and a higher risk of arterial and venous thromboembolic events, and that these events are also associated with higher mortality”, he explains.
Among the main symptoms of venous thrombosis are: pain, swelling, change in skin color, difficulty moving and stiffening of the muscles in only one end of the body. Pulmonary embolism (severe thrombosis) is characterized by chest pain, shortness of breath and accelerated breathing.
Based on these clinical findings, the guide addresses, based on the reality of Brazilian healthcare, technical topics such as disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) in Covid-19, monitoring of coagulopathy, systematic evaluation, prophylaxis, diagnosis and treatment of venous thromboembolism, and management of patients using oral anticoagulants. “The guidelines contained in the document are based on international literature and were adapted to the local situation in Brazil”, commented Fernanda.
Get Connected
Observing the Covid-19 epidemic in China, researchers found that 80% of patients showed mild and moderate symptoms of the disease; 13,8% had severe symptoms such as fatigue, rapid breathing and shortness of breath; and 6,1% progressed to critical conditions requiring hospitalization in Intensive Care Units. Critical patients may experience respiratory failure, septic shock and multiple organ failure.
Published article originally on the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM) website.
