Browsing by Author "Basaric, Dusica (57898708800)"

Changes in the hemostatic system during COVID infection lead to hypercoagulability. Numerous studies have evaluated hemostatic abnormalities in COVID patients during acute infection, in the period of hospitalization. However, the hemostatic status following hospital discharge has not been sufficiently assessed. Considering the importance of FVIII and D-dimer levels as markers for the assessment of thrombosis, our study aimed to evaluate changes in these markers, as well as the influence of patient’s age and clinical presentation of COVID infection on those hemostatic markers in the post-COVID phase. This prospective study (July 2020 to December 2022) included 115 COVID patients, 68 (59%) with asymptomatic/mild and 47 (41%) with moderate/severe clinical presentation. Patient follow-up included laboratory evaluation of FVIII and D-dimer levels at 1, 3, and 6 months following the COVID infection. Three months after the COVID infection, elevated FVIII was recorded in 44% of younger versus 65% of older individuals, p ¼ 0.05, respectively, and 30 versus 57% (p ¼ 0.008) 6 months post–COVID infection. With a focus on clinical presentation, a higher number of patients with moderate/severe COVID had elevated FVIII activity, but a statistically significant difference was observed only for the 6 months (32% mild vs. 53% moderate/severe, p ¼ 0.041) post-infection time point. Following a COVID infection, an increase in FVIII activity suggests a continued hypercoagulable state in the post-COVID period and correlates with elevated D-dimer levels. This increase in FVIII is more pronounced in patients with moderate/severe clinical picture and those patients older than 50 years. © 2024. Thieme. All rights reserved.

Objective: Elevated factor VIII has been shown to be an independent risk factor for deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. It has been suggested that increased factor VIII levels by itself is insufficient to cause thrombosis; however, increased factor VIII with other risk factors could increase the risk of thrombosis. The aim of the study was to evaluate the factor VIII level with regard to the type of thrombosis and patient’s risk factors such as age or comorbidity. Materials and Methods: In total, 441 patients who were referred for thrombophilia testing from the period of January 2010 to December 2020 were included in the study. The patients who developed the first thrombosis before the age of 50 were eligible for the study. The patients’ data that were used in statistical analyses were collected from our thrombophilia register. Results: The number of the subjects with increased factor VIII over 1.5 IU/mL is equal regardless of the thrombosis type. Factor VIII activity already begins to increase over 40 years old and reaches the mean values of 1.45 IU/mL close to the cut-off (1.5 IU/mL), showing a statistically significant difference compared to those under 40, P = .001. Comorbidities other than thyroid disease or malignancy had no influence on the increase of factor VIII. In the mentioned conditions, the average factor VIII of 1.82 (0.79) and 1.65 (0.43) was obtained, respectively. Conclusion: Factor VIII activity is significantly affected by age. Thrombosis type and comorbid diseases oththan thyroid disease and malignancy had no effect on factor VIII. © 2023, AVES. All rights reserved.