Inherited thrombophilia: undetected comorbidity complicating COVID-19 infection

The relation between the severity of COVID-19 and coexisting undiagnosed underlying thrombophilic conditions is not yet established. It may be possible that undiagnosed thrombophilia exaggerates an already pro-thrombotic state in COVID-19 patients and may be responsible for severe disease in absence of any known co-morbidity. The aim was to analyze the association of underlying thrombophilia with the severity of COVID-19 infection in post-COVID patients after a minimum of 6 weeks of recovery and to compare thrombophilia profile in severe versus non-severe COVID-19 patients. Forty severe and 40 non-severe COVID patients at least 6 weeks post recovery were selected for thrombophilia profile and complete blood count evaluation. The data were analyzed using Stata software, USA; version 13. The Chi-square test and Student's t-test were used to compare proportions and mean respectively. A total of 14/80 (17.5%) were positive for the thrombophilia screen. Protein C deficiency was noted in 6/40 (15%) severe COVID patients but not in the non-severe group. The Protein S deficiency was seen in 7/40 (17.5%) severe patients and only 1 patient was deficient in the non-severe group (2.5%). The mean Protein C and Protein S levels of severe and non-severe COVID patients were statistically significant (P-0.002) and (P-0.007) respectively. The difference in mean anti-COVID IgG antibody titer of severe and non-severe COVID patients was also statistically significant (P-0.0001). To Conclude, Protein C & S deficiencies were the commonest abnormalities detected in severe COVID patients. Positive thrombophilia profile and higher titers of anti-IgG COVID-19 antibodies were seen in a significant number of patients who had suffered from Severe COVID-19 than in non-severe infection, even after 6 weeks of recovery. Thereby, suggesting that underlying thrombophilia might have affected the severity of the disease.