COVID-19 patients are at high risk of developing blood clots during infection, and those that do have an increased mortality rate, a new meta-analysis has found.
Previous studies have indicated a risk of thromboembolism from COVID-19, but the rate and its effect on mortality were unclear. Dr Mahmoud Malas and colleagues at UC San Diego Health, USA, analysed 42 studies including 8,271 COVID-19 patients.
The overall thromboembolism rate was 21%. Having thromboembolism in either veins or arteries appeared to raise the mortality risk by 74% compared to patients without thromboembolism.