A Composite Study of Coagulation Milieu in Covid-19: Experience from a Tertiary Care Centre from India

BACKGROUND: The understanding of pathogenesis is necessary for the development of effective treatment for COVID-19. Various studies have postulated that there is a complex interplay of mediators of coagulation and inflammation responsible for the pathogenesis of COVID-19. We did this study on coagulation parameters and inflammatory markers and their effect on outcome in patients with COVID-19. METHODS: This was a single centre observational cross-sectional study. Procoagulants [Prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), D-dimer, lupus anticoagulant (LA), fibrinogen, factor-VIII (F-VIII)]; anticoagulants [protein-C (PC), protein-S (PS), antithrombin] and inflammatory markers [interleukin-6 (IL-6) and highly sensitive - C-reactive protein (hs-CRP)] were measured at the time of hospitalization and correlated with the severity of the disease. RESULTS: A total of 230 patients were enrolled, of which 61.3%, 20.0%, and 18.7% had asymptomatic/ mild, moderate, or severe disease, respectively. COVID-19 disease severity was associated with rising trends with coagulation parameters (PT, APTT, D-Dimer; p value 0.01, <0.0001, <0.0001, respectively). Falling trends of anticoagulant (PC, Antithrombin; p value <0.0001, 0.003 respectively) and rising trends of procoagulant (fibrinogen, F-VIII; p value 0.004, <0.0001 respectively) were observed with increasing COVID-19 disease severity. Multivariate logistic regression analysis found that advanced age, high D-Dimer, and high hs-CRP (p value 0.035, 0.018, <0.0001 respectively) were independent predictors of mortality in COVID-19. Procoagulant parameters (D-dimer, APTT, Factor VIII) were positively correlated with anticoagulant parameters (PC and PS) and inflammatory parameters (hs-CRP). CONCLUSION: This study revealed increased levels of coagulation and inflammatory parameters, which correlated with the severity of COVID-19. Age, D-dimer, IL-6, hs-CRP, APTT, fibrinogen, and Factor VIII were significantly higher in patients with moderate and severe disease as compared to asymptomatic/mild disease. Advanced age, high D-dimer, and high hs-CRP were significantly associated with poor outcomes.