In large clinical trial conducted worldwide, full dose anti-coagulation (blood thinner) treatments given to moderately ill patients hospitalized for COVID-19 reduced the requirement of vital organ support – such as the need for ventilation. A trend in possible reduction of mortality was also observed and is being further studied, according to a press release from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
With large numbers of COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization, these outcomes could also help reduce the overload on intensive care units around the world.
Early in the pandemic, physicians around the world observed increased rates of blood clots and inflammation among COVID-19 patients, which affected multiple organs and led to complications such as lung failure, heart attack and stroke. Whether providing increased doses of blood thinners routinely administered to hospitalized patients would be safe and effective was unknown at that time, according to the NIH.
Three clinical trial platforms spanning five continents in more than 300 hospitals have been working together to test whether there is a greater benefit of full doses of heparin (blood thinners) to treat moderately ill hospitalized adults with COVID-19 compared to the lower heparin dose typically administered to prevent blood clots in hospitalized patients. Moderately ill patients are those not in intensive care and who did not receive organ support such as mechanical ventilation at trial enrollment.
Based on the interim results of more than 1,000 moderately ill patients admitted to hospital, findings showed that full doses of blood thinners, in addition to being safe, were superior to the doses normally given to prevent blood clots in hospitalized patients – with regard to the primary endpoint, which is the need for ventilation or other organ supportive interventions.
However, research questions remain about how to further improve the clinical care of COVID-19 patients, the NIH said. This adaptive protocol has been designed to allow different drugs to be started, stopped or combined during the study in response to emerging scientific data. This approach enables the rapid testing of additional agents without compromising safety and the study will evolve accordingly. The NIH said.
The trial results reported complement the group’s findings announced in December that routine use of full-dose anti-coagulation when started in the ICU in critically ill COVID-19 patients was not beneficial and may have been harmful in some patients.
