Venous Thromboembolism in Critically Ill Patients with Covid-19: Results of a Screening Study for Deep Vein Thrombosis

Abstract Background The rapid spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), and coronavirus disease (Covid-19), has caused more than 3 9 millions of cases worldwide Currently, there is great interest to assess venous thrombosis prevalence, diagnosis, prevention, and management in patients with Covid-19 Objectives To determine the prevalence of venous thromboembolic events (VTE) in critically ill patients with Covid-19, using lower limbs venous ultrasonography screening Methods Since March 8th, we enrolled 25 patients, who were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections The presence of lower extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT) was systematically assessed by ultrasonography, between day 5 and 10 after admission The data reported here are those available up until May 9th 2020 Results The mean (�SD) age of the patients was 68�11 years, 64% were men No patients had a history of VTE During the ICU stay, 8 patients (32%) suffered from VTE;6 (24%) proximal DVT, 5 (20%) pulmonary embolism The rate of symptomatic VTE was 24%, while 8% of patients had screen-detected DVT Only those patients with a documented VTE received a therapeutic anticoagulant regimen As of May 9th, 2020;5 patients died (20%), 2 remain in the ICU (8%), and 18 were discharged (72%) Conclusions In critically ill patients with SARS-CoV-2 infections, DVT screening at day 5-10 of admission, yielded a 32% prevalence of VTE 75% of events occurred before screening Earlier screening might be effective in optimizing care in ICU patients with Covid-19