Hemostatic laboratory derangements in COVID-19 with a focus on platelet count. (17th August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Amgalan, Ariunzaya; Othman, Maha
• Is Part Of: Platelets. Volume 31:Number 6(2020)
• Page Start: 740
• Page End: 745
• Publication Date: 2020-08-17
• Subjects: COVID -- platelets -- SARS-CoV-2 -- thrombocytopenia -- thromboinflammation; Blood platelets -- Periodicals; Blood Platelets -- Periodicals; 615.39
• DOI: 10.1080/09537104.2020.1768523
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0953-7104

Abstract

Abstract: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID-19) which rapidly evolved from an outbreak in Wuhan, China into a pandemic that has resulted in over millions of infections and over hundreds of thousands of mortalities worldwide. Various coagulopathies have been reported in association with COVID-19, including disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), sepsis-induced coagulopathy (SIC), local microthrombi, venous thromboembolism (VTE), arterial thrombotic complications, and thrombo-inflammation. There is a plethora of publications and conflicting data on hematological and hemostatic derangements in COVID-19 with some data suggesting the link to disease progress, severity and/or mortality. There is also growing evidence of potentially useful clinical biomarkers to predict COVID-19 progression and disease outcomes. Of those, a link between thrombocytopenia and COVID-19 severity or mortality was suggested. In this opinion report, we examine the published evidence of hematological and hemostatic laboratory derangements in COVID-19 and the interrelated SARS-CoV-2 induced inflammation, with a focussed discussion on platelet count alterations. We explore whether thrombocytopenia could be a potential disease biomarker and we provide recommendations for future studies in this regard.