Beneficial effects of anticoagulants on the clinical outcomes of covid-19 patients

Zubia Jamil, Azmat Ali Khan, Samreen Khalid, Muhammad Asghar, Khalid Muhammad, Yasir Waheed

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

(1) Background: Severe coronavirus disease can be complicated by a hypercoagulable state in conjunction with sepsis, increasing the risk of venous thromboembolism. This study aimed to observe the effect of anticoagulants on 30-day high-dependency unit (HDU) outcomes of moderate to severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients of a tertiary care hospital at Rawalpindi, Pakistan. (2) Methods: A retrospective propensity-based case–control study was carried out to examine COVID-19 patients admitted to the HDU. Patient groups who did and did not receive anticoagulants were labeled as “anticoagulant” and “non-anticoagulant”, respectively. Case–control matching (1:1) was performed via propensity scores (calculated by a regression model). Kaplan–Meier and logrank analyses were used to study survival probability. Single predictors of outcomes were determined by Cox regression analysis. (3) Results: The anticoagulant group had elevated D-dimers, advanced age, more comorbidities and a higher frequency of severe disease compared to the nonanticoagulant group (p < 0.05). Therefore, 47 cases and 47 matched controls were selected based on their propensity scores. The primary endpoint was outcome (survived vs. died). The 30-day in-HDU mortality was 25.5% for cases and 61.7% for controls (p = 0.0004). The median time from admission to death was 16 days for the case group and 7 days for the control group (p < 0.0001). The 30-day mortality was 19.1% for the enoxaparin group and 16.4% for the heparin group (p > 0.05). Enoxaparin (therapeutic and prophylactic doses) and heparin (prophylactic dose) were found to be independent factors affecting the outcomes of these patients (p < 0.001). (4) Conclusions: Anticoagulants play a beneficial role in reducing mortality among COVID-19 patients. Both anticoagulant formulations, enoxaparin (therapeutic and prophylactic doses) and heparin (prophylactic dose), were associated with improving survival among these patients.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1394
JournalAntibiotics
Volume10
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2021

Keywords

  • Acute respiratory distress syndrome
  • COVID-19
  • Enoxaparin
  • Heparin
  • Pulmonary embolism
  • SARS-CoV-2

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics
  • Microbiology (medical)
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Pharmacology (medical)
  • Biochemistry
  • Microbiology

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