Inference from longitudinal laboratory tests characterizes temporal evolution of COVID-19-associated coagulopathy (CAC)

Elife. 2020 Aug 17:9:e59209. doi: 10.7554/eLife.59209.

Abstract

Temporal inference from laboratory testing results and triangulation with clinical outcomes extracted from unstructured electronic health record (EHR) provider notes is integral to advancing precision medicine. Here, we studied 246 SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive (COVIDpos) patients and propensity-matched 2460 SARS-CoV-2 PCR-negative (COVIDneg) patients subjected to around 700,000 lab tests cumulatively across 194 assays. Compared to COVIDneg patients at the time of diagnostic testing, COVIDpos patients tended to have higher plasma fibrinogen levels and lower platelet counts. However, as the infection evolves, COVIDpos patients distinctively show declining fibrinogen, increasing platelet counts, and lower white blood cell counts. Augmented curation of EHRs suggests that only a minority of COVIDpos patients develop thromboembolism, and rarely, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC), with patients generally not displaying platelet reductions typical of consumptive coagulopathies. These temporal trends provide fine-grained resolution into COVID-19 associated coagulopathy (CAC) and set the stage for personalizing thromboprophylaxis.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; coagulation; electronic health record (EHR); human; laboratory tests; medicine; thrombolytic agents.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Betacoronavirus / isolation & purification*
  • Betacoronavirus / pathogenicity
  • Biomarkers / blood
  • Blood Coagulation Disorders / blood
  • Blood Coagulation Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Blood Coagulation Disorders / virology
  • Blood Coagulation Tests*
  • Blood Coagulation*
  • COVID-19
  • COVID-19 Testing
  • Clinical Laboratory Techniques*
  • Coronavirus Infections / blood
  • Coronavirus Infections / diagnosis*
  • Coronavirus Infections / virology
  • Disease Progression
  • Female
  • Fibrinogen / metabolism
  • Host Microbial Interactions
  • Humans
  • Leukocyte Count
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Pandemics
  • Platelet Count
  • Pneumonia, Viral / blood
  • Pneumonia, Viral / diagnosis*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / virology
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Retrospective Studies
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • Fibrinogen

Grants and funding

No external funding was received for this work.