Unveiling coagulation dysfunction in patients with COVID-19: a retrospective analysis

Area of Science:

• Hematology
• Infectious Diseases
• Critical Care Medicine

Background:

• Coagulation dysfunction is a key feature of COVID-19 pathophysiology.
• Abnormal coagulation parameters are frequently observed in severe COVID-19 cases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the predictive value of prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (PTT), and international normalized ratio (INR) for mortality in COVID-19 patients.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 156 COVID-19 patients.
• Measurement of PT, PTT, and INR upon admission.
• Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to determine predictive performance (AUC, sensitivity, specificity).

Main Results:

• Significant differences in PTT, PT, and INR were observed (P < 0.05).
• PTT showed the highest predictive performance with an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.68.
• PTT achieved 83% sensitivity and 46% specificity for predicting mortality.

Conclusions:

• PTT may serve as a valuable prognostic marker for mortality risk in COVID-19 patients.
• Monitoring coagulation markers like PTT can aid in risk stratification and treatment guidance.
• Further research is needed to validate these findings and establish the clinical utility of coagulation markers in COVID-19 management.