1.
Intermediate-to-therapeutic versus prophylactic anticoagulation for coagulopathy in hospitalized COVID-19 patients: a systemic review and meta-analysis
Zhang S, Li Y, Liu G, Su B
Thrombosis journal. 2021;19(1):91
Abstract
BACKGROUND Anticoagulation in hospitalized COVID-19 patients has been associated with survival benefit; however, the optimal anticoagulant strategy has not yet been defined. The objective of this meta-analysis was to investigate the effect of intermediate-to-therapeutic versus prophylactic anticoagulation for thromboprophylaxis on the primary outcome of in-hospital mortality and other patient-centered secondary outcomes in COVID-19 patients. METHODS MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases were searched from inception to August 10th 2021. Cohort studies and randomized clinical trials that assessed the efficacy and safety of intermediate-to-therapeutic versus prophylactic anticoagulation in hospitalized COVID-19 patients were included. Baseline characteristics and relevant data of each study were extracted in a pre-designed standardized data-collection form. The primary outcome was all-cause in-hospital mortality and the secondary outcomes were incidence of thrombotic events and incidence of any bleeding and major bleeding. Pooled analysis with random effects models yielded relative risk with 95 % CIs. RESULTS This meta-analysis included 42 studies with 28,055 in-hospital COVID-19 patients totally. Our pooled analysis demonstrated that intermediate-to-therapeutic anticoagulation was not associated with lower in-hospital mortality (RR=1.12, 95 %CI 0.99-1.25, p=0.06, I(2)=77 %) and lower incidence of thrombotic events (RR=1.30, 95 %CI 0.79-2.15, p=0.30, I(2)=88 %), but increased the risk of any bleeding events (RR=2.16, 95 %CI 1.79-2.60, p<0.01, I(2)=31 %) and major bleeding events significantly (RR=2.10, 95 %CI 1.77-2.51, p<0.01, I(2)=11 %) versus prophylactic anticoagulation. Moreover, intermediate-to-therapeutic anticoagulation decreased the incidence of thrombotic events (RR=0.71, 95 %CI 0.56-0.89, p=0.003, I(2)=0 %) among critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU), with increased bleeding risk (RR=1.66, 95 %CI 1.37-2.00, p<0.01, I(2)=0 %) and unchanged in-hospital mortality (RR=0.94, 95 %CI 0.79-1.10, p=0.42, I(2)=30 %) in such patients. The Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation certainty of evidence ranged from very low to moderate. CONCLUSIONS We recommend the use of prophylactic anticoagulation against intermediate-to-therapeutic anticoagulation among unselected hospitalized COVID-19 patients considering insignificant survival benefits but higher risk of bleeding in the escalated thromboprophylaxis strategy. For critically ill COVID-19 patients, the benefits of intermediate-to-therapeutic anticoagulation in reducing thrombotic events should be weighed cautiously because of its association with higher risk of bleeding. TRIAL REGISTRATION The protocol was registered at PROSPERO on August 17th 2021 ( CRD42021273780 ).
2.
COVID-19 and Coagulation Dysfunction in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Lin J, Yan H, Chen H, He C, Lin C, He H, Zhang S, Shi S, Lin K
Journal of Medical Virology. 2020
Abstract
BACKGROUND The outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has posed a grave threat to the global public health. The COVID-19-induced infection is closely related to coagulation dysfunction in the affected patients. This paper attempts to conduct a meta-analysis and systematically review the blood coagulation indicators in severe COVID-19 patients. METHODS A meta-analysis of eligible studies was performed to compare the blood coagulation indicators in severe and non-severe COVID-19 patients. PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched for studies published between December 1, 2019 and May 7, 2020. RESULTS A total of 13 studies with 1,341 adult patients were enrolled in this analysis. Platelet [WMD=-24.83, 95% CI (-34.12, -15.54), p<0.001], d-dimer [WMD=0.19, 95% CI (0.09, 0.29), p<0.001] and fibrinogen [WMD=1.02, 95% CI (0.50, 1.54), p<0.001] were significantly associated with the severity in COVID-19 patients. The meta-analysis revealed that no correlation was evident between an increased severity risk of COVID-19 and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) [WMD=-1.56, 95% CI (-5.77, 2.64), p=0.468] or prothrombin time (PT) [WMD=0.19, 95% CI (-0.13, 0.51), p=0.243]. The single arm meta-analysis showed that, compared with the non-severe group, the severe group had a lower pooled platelet [165.12 (95% CI: 157.38-172.85) vs. 190.09 (95% CI: 179.45-200.74)], higher d-dimer [0.49 (95% CI: 0.33-0.64) vs. 0.27 (95% CI: 0.20-0.34)] and higher fibrinogen [4.34 (95% CI: 1.98-6.70) vs. 3.19 (95% CI: 1.13-5.24)]. CONCLUSIONS Coagulation dysfunction is closely related to the severity of COVID-19 patients, in which low platelet, high d-dimer and fibrinogen upon admission may serve as risk indicators for increased aggression of the disease. These findings are of great clinical value for timely and effective treatment of the COVID-19 cases. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
3.
Antiviral agents, glucocorticoids, antibiotics, and intravenous immunoglobulin usage in 1142 patients with coronavirus disease 2019: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Pei L, Zhang S, Huang L, Geng X, Ma L, Jiang W, Li W, Chen D
Pol Arch Intern Med. 2020
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Treatment effects of antiviral agents, glucocorticoids, antibiotics, and intravenous immunoglobulin are controversial in patients with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). OBJECTIVES To evaluate the impact of drug therapy on the risk of death in patients with COVID-19. PATIENTS AND METHODS The PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and major preprint platforms were searched to retrieve articles till 7 April 2020. The effects of specific drug interventions on mortality were assessed in COVID-19 patients. Odds ratios (ORs) and Risk Ratios (RRs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled using random-effects models. RESULTS Of 3421 references, six studies were included. Pooled results from retrospective studies revealed that antiviral agents may contribute to survival benefit (OR, 0.42, 95% CI, 0.17-0.99, p=0.048, I2=82.8%), while the RCT found no effects of antiviral agent on mortality (RR 0.77, 95% CI, 0.45-1.30, p=0.33). Glucocorticoids usage leads to an increased risk of death (OR 2.43, 95% CI, 1.44-4.10, p=0.001, I2=61.9%). Antibiotics intervention did not significantly affect mortality (OR 1.13, 95% CI, 0.67-1.89, p=0.64, I2=0%). Likewise, intravenous immunoglobulin had non-significant effects on mortality (OR 2.66, 95% CI, 0.72-9.89, p=0.14, I2=93.1%). CONCLUSIONS With the varied heterogeneities across interventions, the current evidence indicated a probable survival benefit of antiviral agent usage and a harmful effect of glucocorticoids in patients with COVID-19. None of antibiotics or intravenous immunoglobulin usage was associated with survival benefit in patients with COVID-19.