Review of Laboratory Investigations Associated With COVID-19 Induced Coagulopathy

Shyreen Chitani, Dharmendra Kumar Dubey

Abstract: Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a respiratory illness caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has currently infected millions of people and remains a threat to many more. Even though most cases are asymptomatic, severe cases of COVID-19 can cause health threatening complications, multi organ damage and death in some cases. COVID-19 is also very much associated with a high prevalence of coagulopathy and thrombotic embolisms that further contribute to the weakening of the respiratory system. Coagulation disorders as a result of COVID-19 are said to be caused by interaction between coronaviruses and endothelial cells, the local and systemic inflammatory response, and the coagulation system. Understanding the pathophysiology of COVID-19 associated coagulopathy is important in order to determine appropriate treatment and monitoring of these complications. Objective: This article will focus on the laboratory tests that are performed to confirm coagulopathy in COVID-19, provide a summary of key characteristics of other coagulopathies, their differences and similarities with the intention of clearly stating the uniqueness of COVID-19 associated coagulopathy (CAC). Methods: Publicly available Pubmed, England Journal of Medicine, Sage Journals, National Library of Medicine database have been searched from 2019-2021. Search results were restricted to articles that were in English and the following article types: case control studies, retrospective reviews, cohort studies. Conclusion: COVID-19 associated coagulopathy has a unique clinical and pathophysiologic challenge with distinct laboratory traits. It is of great importance to monitor its progression in order to properly treat it to avoid severe complications and death.

Keywords: COVID-19, coagulopathy, Coronavirus, COVID, SARS-COV-2, coagulation, endothelial, thrombosis, anticoagulation, thromboembolism, Deep Vein Thrombosis