High plasma viscosity seen in critically ill patients with COVID-19
US doctors went looking for alternative aetiologies after multiple cases of anticoagulation failure
Abnormally high plasma viscosity could be contributing to the thrombotic complications seen in many COVID-19 patients, a report suggests.
In a letter to the Lancet, US doctors describe 15 people with COVID-19 with abnormally viscous blood who were admitted to their intensive care unit.
The doctors said that multiple occurrences of therapeutic anticoagulation failure in patients with COVID-19 had prompted them to search for alternative aetiologies contributing to refractory hypercoagulability.
All but one of the 15 patients in the report had acute respiratory distress syndrome and were on ventilators, 14 had encephalopathy, 12 required vasopressor treatment for shock and 11 needed continuous renal replacement therapy.
