Better Anticoagulated Than Not! Hypercoagulability in COVID-19


Authors: Dhauna P. Karam, MD1 Incidence of thrombotic complications in patients with COVID-19 who are critically ill is high, with an estimated incidence of 31% for arterial or venous thromboembolism (VTE), acute pulmonary embolism, ischemic stroke, and myocardial infarction. On the basis of the study by Klok et al,1 pulmonary embolism was the most common thrombotic […]

The Impact of COVID-19 Disease on Platelets and Coagulation


Authors: Geoffrey D Wool 1, Jonathan L Miller 2 Abstract Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) causes a spectrum of disease; some patients develop a severe proinflammatory state which can be associated with a unique coagulopathy and procoagulant endothelial phenotype. Initially, COVID-19 infection produces a prominent elevation of fibrinogen and D-dimer/fibrin(ogen) degradation products. This is associated with systemic hypercoagulability and […]

Direct activation of the alternative complement pathway by SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins is blocked by factor D inhibition


Authors: Jia Yu, Xuan Yuan, Hang Chen, Shruti Chaturvedi, Evan M. Braunstein, Robert A. Brodsky Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a highly contagious respiratory virus that can lead to venous/arterial thrombosis, stroke, renal failure, myocardial infarction, thrombocytopenia, and other end-organ damage. Animal models demonstrating end-organ protection in C3-deficient mice and evidence of complement activation in humans have […]

What Is the D-Dimer Test?


Authors: Richard N. Fogoros, MD The D-dimer test is a blood test that indicates whether blood clots are being actively formed somewhere within a person’s vascular system. This test is most often helpful in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolus and deep vein thrombosis, but it can also be useful in diagnosing other medical conditions in which blood clots play a […]

Never ignore extremely elevated D-dimer levels: they are specific for serious illness


Authors: T Schutte 1, A Thijs, Y M Smulders D-dimer is routinely measured as part of the clinical diagnosis algorithms for venous thromboembolism (VTE). In these algorithms, low D- dimer cut-off values are used to generate a dichotomous test result that is sensitive, but very non-specific for VTE. A consequence of any test dichotomisation is loss of information […]