Hypercoagulable state in COVID-19 and diabetes: Cerebral vasospasm, intracardiac clot, and pulmonary embolism

Abstract

Background: Hypercoagulable state in the form of venous and arterial thromboembolism, associated with poor prognosis, could be a severe sequel of COVID-19 infections. We present representative cases that show hypercoagulable state in COVID-19 and the negative effects of diabetes and age on outcomes of anticoagulation therapy. Our aim is to understand the role of predisposing factors for the successful use of anticoagulants. Methods: We applied clinical history, examination, laboratory tests, noninvasive ultrasound imaging, and computer-assisted tomography to characterize hypercoagulable state in patients with COVID-19. Results: One patient (83 years) was diabetic of the elderly group (>64 years), who developed sepsis-induced coagulopathy (SIC), cerebral arterial vasospasm, intracardiac clots, coronary ischemia, and pulmonary embolism with fatal outcome despite the use of anticoagulation. The second patient (60 years) was diabetic of the middle-age group (48–63 years), who developed SIC, cerebral arterial vasospasm, intracardiac clots, and coronary ischemia and had good outcome with the use of anticoagulation. The third case was a patient (22 years) without diabetes of the youth group (15–47 years) who developed cardiomyopathy, heart valve vegetations, and cerebral arterial vasospasm, received anticoagulation, and had good outcome. The difference in outcome with the application of anticoagulation with lower molecular weight heparin could be related to the greater burden of disease including diabetes, age, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Conclusion: Noninvasive ultrasound imaging modalities in combinations with computed axial tomography scans provided insightful characterization of the hypercoagulable state of COVID-19 infection, which helped guide therapeutic intervention.