Thromboembolic complication among COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit (ICU): a single-centre study from a Malaysian perspective
Authors: Zulkifly H , Mansor F , Abdul Halim Zaki I , Eng K S , Kiok L C , Ravi T , Pathmanathan M , Abd Wahab S , Muda R 
Published: February 2022

Funding Acknowledgements

Type of funding sources: None.

Introduction

The emerging complications of thromboembolism (TE) in COVID-19 patients have led to severe consequence such as death. Nonetheless, the prevalence of TE complications among COVID-19 patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Malaysia is unknown.

Objective

To investigate the prevalence of thromboembolic (TE) complications including venous [deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE), and line related thrombosis] and arterial [stroke, peripheral arterial disease and myocardial infarction (MI)] thrombosis and mortality among COVID-19 patients admitted to an ICU at a single centre hospital. The proportions of patients with TE complication who died, and factors associated with the occurrence of thrombotic complications were explored.

Methods

In this retrospective Malaysian cohort study, patients admitted to a single centre ICU with PCR confirmed of SARS-CoV-2 virus and received adequate thromboprophylaxis within February 2020-2021 were included. Thromboembolic (TE) event is a combination of venous and arterial thrombosis.

Results

Mean (SD) age 56.6 (13.7), 63.5% were male, 61.6% Malays, median (IQR) 7 (3-14) days of ICU admission, 64.2%, 53.2% and 20.9% had underlying hypertension, diabetes and obesity respectively. Of 534 patients, 4 (0.7%) developed DVT, 198 (37.1%) PE and 2 (0.4%) line related thrombosis. Meanwhile, 21 (3.9%) developed stroke, 39 (7.3%) MI, 1(0.2%) PAD and 22.8% died despite adequate thromboprophylaxis. In total, 240 (44.9%) developed TE event during their ICU admission. Significantly higher proportions of COVID-19 patients who developed complications of DVT (2.5% vs. 0.2%; p = 0.013), PE (47.5% vs 34.0%; p = 0.006), stroke (12.3% vs. 1.5; p &lt; 0.001) and MI (16.4% vs. 4.6%; p &lt; 0.001) died. Age, duration of ICU admission, obesity, white cell count (WCC), troponin, D-Dimer and corticosteroid use were significantly greater among those with TE events. Demographics, co-morbidities, other laboratory parameters and inflammatory markers were similar in COVID-19 patients with and without TE events. Predictors of TE events on multivariate logistic regression analysis were age [OR 1.02 (95% CI 1.00-1.03)], obesity [OR 2.84 (95% CI 1.93-4.18)], WCC [OR 1.04 (95% CI 1.00-1.07)], and duration of ICU admission [OR 1.04 (95% CI 1.02-1.06)].

Conclusion

In this cohort of severely ill COVID-19 patients, the overall prevalence of TE complication was high (44.9%) with the overall mortality of 22.8% despite adequate thromboprophylaxis. Key predictors of TE events included age, obesity, white cell count, and duration of ICU admission. Perhaps a more aggressive treatment (combination of thromboprophylaxis and enhanced anti-inflammatory treatment) may be needed among COVID-19 patients admitted to ICU with high risk factors to prevent further increase in the incidence of thromboembolism and death.