Dutch hospitals investigating link between coronavirus, thrombosis

Several university medical centers and hospitals in the Netherlands are launching an investigation into whether there is a link between the coronavirus and thrombosis and pulmonary emboli, the Thrombosis Foundation of the Netherlands, which is funding the study, announced on Sunday.

Doctors in the Netherlands and abroad already noted that strikingly many coronavirus patients in ICU also have thrombosis or pulmonary emboli. Thrombosis is when a patient forms blood clots. And a pulmonary embolism is a blood clot in the lung. According to the Thrombosis Foundation, data from Dutch hospitals show that at least a third of all Covid-19 patients also have the other conditions.

The hospitals are now going to investigate whether coronavirus patients develop thrombosis because of long periods of inactivity in the ICU, or whether the coronavirus causes thrombosis. "The aim of the research is to gain insight into the development of thrombosis in these patients and thus to prevent and treat thrombosis better. In addition, this knowledge may also be important for patients with other infections who develop clotting problems," said study leader Marieke Kruip, hematologist at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam.

It is not yet known exactly when this study will start. The Thrombosis Foundation said it will be "as soon as possible".