Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 15, 2025

Author Spotlight: A Novel Method for Comprehensive Cell Component Analysis of Cerebral Blood Clots
06:12

Author Spotlight: A Novel Method for Comprehensive Cell Component Analysis of Cerebral Blood Clots

Published on: July 21, 2023

572

The COVID-19 thrombus: distinguishing pathological, mechanistic, and phenotypic features and management

Richard C Becker1, Udaya S Tantry2, Muhammad Khan3

  • 1Cardiovascular Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 231 Albert Sabin Way, Cincinnati, OH, 45267, USA. richard.becker@uc.edu.

Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis
|August 23, 2024
PubMed

Insights

COVID-19 significantly increases thrombosis risk, affecting small and large blood vessels across all illness severities and phases. Understanding these distinct thrombotic events is crucial for effective patient management and prevention.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Medicine
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Pathology

Background:

  • COVID-19 is strongly associated with an increased risk of thrombosis.
  • Thrombotic events involve both small (micro) and large (macro) vessels, affecting venous and arterial systems.
  • These events occur across various illness severities and disease phases, from hyperacute to chronic.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the clinical features, pathological aspects, and mechanisms of venous, arterial, and microvascular thrombosis in COVID-19 patients.
  • To enhance understanding of thrombosis predisposition in SARS-CoV-2 infection.
  • To establish a foundation for improved screening, surveillance, prevention, and management strategies.

Main Methods:

  • Focused literature review of clinical and pathological data.
  • Analysis of thrombosis characteristics in different COVID-19 illness severities and phases.
  • Synthesis of potential mechanisms underlying COVID-19-associated thrombosis.

Main Results:

  • Thrombosis is a hallmark of COVID-19, impacting diverse vascular beds.
  • Events are observed in critically ill patients during early infection phases and in mild-to-moderate cases during later phases.
  • Distinct clinical features and pathological components characterize these thrombotic events.

Conclusions:

  • COVID-19-associated thrombosis presents varied patterns across different stages and severities of illness.
  • Further understanding of the mechanisms is vital for developing targeted interventions.
  • This review provides insights for optimizing the clinical care of patients with COVID-19-related thrombosis.

Keywords:
COVID-19-associated thrombosisMacrovascular thrombosisMicrovascular thrombosis

More Related Videos

In Vitro Microfluidic Disease Model to Study Whole Blood-Endothelial Interactions and Blood Clot Dynamics in Real-Time09:19

In Vitro Microfluidic Disease Model to Study Whole Blood-Endothelial Interactions and Blood Clot Dynamics in Real-Time

Published on: May 24, 2020

8.9K
Author Spotlight: Advancing Thrombolytic Testing by Integrating Flow Dynamics in In Vitro Models06:16

Author Spotlight: Advancing Thrombolytic Testing by Integrating Flow Dynamics in In Vitro Models

Published on: April 19, 2024

911

Related Concept Videos

Anticoagulant Drugs: Low-Molecular-Weight Heparins01:30

Anticoagulant Drugs: Low-Molecular-Weight Heparins

Hemostasis is a crucial process that prevents excessive blood loss from damaged blood vessels. It involves various mechanisms such as vasoconstriction, platelet adhesion and activation, and fibrin formation. The importance of each mechanism depends on the type of vessel injury. In contrast, thrombosis is the abnormal formation of a blood clot within the blood vessels, leading to potential complications if the clot obstructs blood flow. Thrombosis can be caused by increased coagulability of the...
654
Clot Retraction and Fibrinolysis01:16

Clot Retraction and Fibrinolysis

After a fibrin clot is formed, the next step is clot retraction, a vital process facilitated by platelet contractile proteins, such as actin and myosin. These proteins pull the fibrin strands closer together and condense the clot. This action reduces the size of the clot, creating a smaller, denser structure that effectively seals off the damaged vessel. Clot retraction consolidates the clot and helps with wound healing by bringing the edges of the damaged blood vessel closer together.
4.9K
Disorders of Hemostasis01:24

Disorders of Hemostasis

Hemostasis, the process that stops bleeding after a blood vessel injury, is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the circulatory system. However, disorders of hemostasis can disrupt this delicate balance, leading to either excessive clotting or bleeding. These disorders can be broadly classified into thromboembolic disorders and bleeding disorders.
Thromboembolic Disorders
Two factors primarily cause thromboembolic conditions.
756
Coagulation01:09

Coagulation

The coagulation phase is a critical part of the body's process to prevent blood loss following injury to blood vessels. It involves chemical reactions that form a clot to seal the injured area. The clotting process begins shortly after injury, within 15-20 seconds for severe damage and 1-2 minutes for minor injuries.
During the coagulation phase, clotting factors, or procoagulants, play a vital role in initiating and progressing the coagulation cascade. This cascade is a series of reactions...
5.6K
Extrinsic and Intrinsic Pathways of Hemostasis01:20

Extrinsic and Intrinsic Pathways of Hemostasis

Blood clotting or coagulation involves extrinsic and intrinsic pathways, which ultimately merge into the common pathway, forming a fibrin clot.
The Extrinsic Pathway
The extrinsic pathway of coagulation is typically initiated by tissue damage that exposes blood to tissue factor (TF), a protein released by the damaged tissue cells outside the blood vessels—this interaction with TF triggers biochemical reactions involving specific clotting factors. The key player here is Factor VII, which...
6.5K