A systematic review of thromboembolic complications and outcomes in hospitalised COVID-19 patients

• Published in: BMC Infectious Diseases
• Main Author: Othman H.Y.; Zaki I.A.H.; Isa M.R.; Ming L.C.; Zulkifly H.H.
• Format: Review
• Language: English
• Published: BioMed Central Ltd 2024
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85192922115&doi=10.1186%2fs12879-024-09374-1&partnerID=40&md5=ba1322b8aea3c2d775a42f852a70e6f4

Thromboembolic (TE) complications [myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and pulmonary embolism (PE)] are common causes of mortality in hospitalised COVID-19 patients. Therefore, this review was undertaken to explore the incidence of TE complications and mortality associated with TE complications in hospitalised COVID-19 patients from different studies. A literature search was performed using ScienceDirect and PubMed databases using the MeSH term search strategy of “COVID-19”, “thromboembolic complication”, “venous thromboembolism”, “arterial thromboembolism”, “deep vein thrombosis”, “pulmonary embolism”, “myocardial infarction”, “stroke”, and “mortality”. There were 33 studies included in this review. Studies have revealed that COVID-19 patients tend to develop venous thromboembolism (PE:1.0-40.0% and DVT:0.4-84%) compared to arterial thromboembolism (stroke:0.5-15.2% and MI:0.8-8.7%). Lastly, the all-cause mortality of COVID-19 patients ranged from 4.8 to 63%, whereas the incidence of mortality associated with TE complications was between 5% and 48%. A wide range of incidences of TE complications and mortality associated with TE complications can be seen among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Therefore, every patient should be assessed for the risk of thromboembolic complications and provided with an appropriate thromboprophylaxis management plan tailored to their individual needs. © The Author(s) 2024.