Optimal Anticoagulant Dosing in Patients with COVID-19, a Retrospective Review

• Published in: Blood 2021-11, Vol.138 (Supplement 1), p.4275-4275
• Main Authors: Carrillo, Alessandra, Punatar, Shil, Pavaluri, Sushma, Jentink, Madeline, Patel, Dixita, Braun, Joseph, Todorova, Tsvetelina, Safarpour, Damoun, Farooqui, Marwah W, Ghouse, Masood, Srinivasan, Krishnan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0006-4971; 1528-0020
• DOI: 10.1182/blood-2021-145633

Background Hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection have higher rates of venous thromboembolism (VTE).Higher mortality rates have been reported in severe cases of COVID-19 including those who have elevated D-dimer levels and have thromboembolic phenomena. Objective The objective of this retrospective and observational study was to ascertain which type and dosages of anticoagulation provide a mortality benefit and decrease the risk of developing VTE. Methods We evaluated the risk factors for VTEs in patients with a confirmed polymerase chain reaction test positive for COVID-19 who were admitted to our facility from April 1 to July 1, 2020. In addition, we performed a logistic regression to examine the relationship between mortality and intensive care unit (ICU) admission, specific risk factors outlined in the study, D-dimer, ferritin, prothrombin time (PT) and international normalized ratio (INR). Patients with a history of VTE, those already on anticoagulation (AC) prior to hospitalization, and patients on comfort care were excluded from study. Results There were originally 331 patients in the data set. Of those, 111 patients were excluded based on exclusion criteria and 4 additional patients were removed as they were the only individual patients in their specific AC covariant group. The analysis was performed on the remaining 216 patients. We divided the AC medications administered to the patients into five separate covariates: 1. enoxaparin 40 mg subcutaneous (sq) daily, 2. enoxaparin 40 mg sq every 12 hours (q12h), 3. heparin 5000 mg sq q12h, 4. heparin 5000 mg sq every 8 hours (q8h), 5. Patients taking multiple AC or deep venous thrombosis (DVT) prophylaxis medications. 6. No AC and examined them via logistic regression for mortality at 28 days and 60 days (Table 1). Patients in enoxaparin 40 mg daily group had statistically significant lower 28 day mortality. There was no statistically significant relationship between the use of enoxaparin 40 mg q12h and 28 day mortality rate. Patients in both heparin groups did not have significantly lower 28 day mortality rates. Patients in groups 5 & 6 had significantly higher 28 day mortality rates (Table 1). It is important to note that 33 patients underwent a pulmonary computed tomography angiography due to concern for pulmonary embolism and 38 patients underwent an ultrasound of their lower extremities to rule out the development of DVT. For patients with additional risk factors