No significant benefit seen for high-dose versus standard anticoagulation therapies, may be harmful<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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FRIDAY, Nov. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Higher doses of blood thinners are potentially harmful and have no clear benefits for hospitalized COVID-19 patients, according to a study published online Nov. 5 in Thrombosis Research<\/em>.<\/p>\n Lei Lynn, M.D., from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and colleagues retrospectively analyzed patient data from 402 COVID-19 patients hospitalized between March 15 and May 31, 2020. Comparisons in clinical outcomes were evaluated for 152 patients treated with therapeutic anticoagulants (AC) and 250 patients on prophylactic AC.<\/p>\n The researchers observed increased mortality associated with therapeutic AC (odds ratio, 3.42) versus prophylactic AC. Similar survival curves were seen among a subset of critically ill and intubated patients, regardless of AC dose. The favoring of prophylactic AC disappeared among non-intensive care unit patients when the analysis was stratified by D-dimer levels less or greater than 3 \u00ce\u00bcg\/mL. Clinically significant bleeding or thrombocytopenia was seen in approximately 9 percent of patients receiving therapeutic AC versus 3 percent in those receiving prophylactic AC.<\/p>\n “While it’s true that COVID-19 patients could be dying of blood clots, the data we’ve evaluated does not support giving every patient a high dose of blood thinners,” Lynn said in a statement. “We caution against an aggressive blood thinner regimen for everyone, unless there is clear evidence to do so.”<\/p>\n