Late Breaking Abstract - Thromboembolic complications in COVID-19 patients admitted to two large East London hospitals

Introduction: COVID-19 may predispose to both venous and arterial thromboembolism, with reports of increased incidence of thromboembolic complications noted in the literature (Lodigiani et al, Thrombosis research, 2020, 191:9-14) We aimed to determine the incidence of thromboembolic complications in patients presenting with COVID-19 Method: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 234 consecutive adult admissions with a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19, admitted to the respiratory wards of two hospitals in East London, UK between 10 March and 26 April 2020 Results: We included 234 patients (median age 66 years, 66% male) CT pulmonary angiogram (n=26), CT head (n=26) and leg Doppler ultrasound (n=13) were the most common radiological investigations performed to investigate for possible thromboembolic events A total of 14 thromboembolic complications occurred in 12/234 patients (5 1%) There were seven pulmonary emboli (3 0% of all patients, 26% of all CTPAs performed), four ischaemic strokes (1 7%) and three lower limb deep vein thromboses (1 3%) Where measured, the D-dimer was significantly raised in patients with confirmed thrombosis The average peak D-dimer during admission was 15 5mg/L in patients with confirmed thrombosis compared to 8 8mg/L in patients with no thrombosis Conclusion: COVID-19 is associated with increased risk of venous and arterial thromboembolic events Individual D-dimer levels are difficult to interpret Our data suggests that higher mean D-dimers are indicative of a thrombotic event and could identify high risk groups of VTE in patients with COVID-19