Efficacy and Safety of Anticoagulant Therapy in COVID-19-Related Pulmonary Embolism with Different Extension

Maria Chiara Gatto; Alessandra Oliva; Claudia Palazzolo; Claudio Picariello; Andrea Garascia; Emanuele Nicastri; Enrico Girardi; Andrea Antinori

doi:10.3390/biomedicines11051282

Efficacy and Safety of Anticoagulant Therapy in COVID-19-Related Pulmonary Embolism with Different Extension

Biomedicines. 2023 Apr 26;11(5):1282. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines11051282.

Authors

Maria Chiara Gatto¹, Alessandra Oliva², Claudia Palazzolo¹, Claudio Picariello³, Andrea Garascia⁴, Emanuele Nicastri¹, Enrico Girardi¹, Andrea Antinori¹

Affiliations

¹ National Institute for Infectious Diseases, Lazzaro Spallanzani, IRCCS, Via Portuense, 292, 00149 Rome, Italy.
² Department of Public Health and Infectious Disease, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro n.5, 00185 Rome, Italy.
³ UOC Cardiologia, Azienda Ospedaliera Santa Maria della Misericordia, ULSS5 Polesana, 45100 Rovigo, Italy.
⁴ Department of Cardiology, De Gasperis Cardio Center, ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, 20162 Milan, Italy.

Abstract

Pulmonary embolism (PE) has been associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, and its incidence is highly variable. The aim of our study was to describe the radiological and clinical presentations, as well as the therapeutic management, of PEs that occurred during SARS-CoV-2 infection in a cohort of hospitalized patients. In this observational study, we enrolled patients with moderate COVID-19 who developed PE during hospitalization. Clinical, laboratory, and radiological features were recorded. PE was diagnosed on clinical suspicion and/or CT angiography. According to CT angiography results, two groups of patients were further distinguished: those with proximal or central pulmonary embolism (cPE) and those with distal or micro-pulmonary embolism (mPE). A total of 56 patients with a mean age of 78 ± 15 years were included. Overall, PE occurred after a median of 2 days from hospitalization (range 0-47 days) and, interestingly, the majority of them (89%) within the first 10 days of hospitalization, without differences between the groups. Patients with cPE were younger (p = 0.02), with a lower creatinine clearance (p = 0.04), and tended to have a higher body weight (p = 0.059) and higher D-Dimer values (p = 0.059) than patients with mPE. In all patients, low-weight molecular heparin (LWMH) at anticoagulant dosage was promptly started as soon as PE was diagnosed. After a mean of 16 ± 9 days, 94% of patients with cPE were switched to oral anticoagulant (OAC) therapy, which was a direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) in 86% of cases. In contrast, only in 68% of patients with mPE, the prosecution with OAC was indicated. The duration of treatment was at least 3 months from PE diagnosis in all patients who started OAC. At the 3-month follow-up, no persistence or recurrence of PE as well as no clinically relevant bleedings were found in both groups. In conclusion, pulmonary embolism in patients with SARS-CoV-2 may have different extensions. Used with clinical judgment, oral anticoagulant therapy with DOAC was effective and safe.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; anticoagulation therapy; pulmonary embolism.

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding. Publication costs partially funded by the Italian Ministry of Health, line 1 of the current research plan.