Study to determine if blood thinners prevent clots, ease COVID symtoms

As part of a national movement to develop treatments and therapies for COVID-19, Intermountain Healthcare researchers are launching a study in Utah to examine the effects of anticoagulants on patients who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. COVID patients in Utah will be among the first patients in the world enrolled in the study, which is unique as it is one of the first and largest studies focusing on treatments options for patients in the community who have not been hospitalized for the virus.

Intermountain is one of three active sites in the United States participating in the national trial, which is sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and is part of Operation Warp Speed, a nationwide public-private partnership examining therapeutics and diagnostics for the COVID-19.

Intermountain researchers are specifically seeking to determine whether a dose of either aspirin or the anticoagulant apixaban will prevent the formation of potentially deadly blood clots in patients who are COVID-positive but are not sick enough to be hospitalized.

“This study is looking to see if patients who are less critically ill from COVID benefit from taking very common medications to prevent the development of blood clots. We want to know if these medications help them from getting worse, avoiding hospitalization and death,” said Dr. Joseph Bledsoe, director of research in the department of emergency medicine at Intermountain Healthcare.

While the COVID-19 virus is still new, it has been associated with an increase in the development of blood clots in the legs, lungs and heart, according to Dr. Sarah Majercik, a trauma surgeon and primary investigator of the study at Intermountain Healthcare.

Researchers believe coronavirus may cause microthrombi, or tiny clots, in some COVID-19 patients. When these microthrombi are present in the lungs, this could be the reason why some patients who test positive for the virus may develop severe acute respiratory syndrome.

“These are tiny clots that we can’t detect by traditional imaging methods but when in the lungs they may cause patients who are first seem stable to get much sicker quickly, have breathing difficulties and potentially need a ventilator,” said Majercik. “Our aim in this study is to see if these drugs can stop clots from forming so patients who are not hospitalized never fall into this severe category of disease.”

For the study, Intermountain researchers are seeking patients between the ages of 40 and 80 who have tested positive for COVID-19 but are not sick enough to need hospital care. They must have normal kidney function and need to meet some other laboratory criteria. Information about inclusion in the study is available at COVIDOutpatientTrials@imail.org.