Early treatment with low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) reduces the risk for death in patients with COVID-19, a retrospective cohort study shows.
Heparin could reduce the risk for blood clots, said Andrea De Vito, MD, from the Unit of Infectious Diseases at the University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy, during his online presentation of the findings at the 31st European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases.
“Several studies try to describe the role played by coagulopathies in COVID-19 death,” but the mechanism causing them is still unclear, De Vito explained.
Some guidelines have suggested heparin as a treatment for hospitalized COVID patients, but few have looked at nonhospitalized patients. In fact, the National Institutes of Health discourages the use of heparin in nonhospitalized COVID patients, and guidance for the home care of COVID patients from the World Health Organization doesn’t mention heparin treatment at all, he said.