New Publication: Anticoagulation Strategies for Non-Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19

We are delighted to announce that the results from the Anticoagulation Domain have now been published in NEJM Evidence and presented by ASCOT CI Zoe McQuilten at the American Society for Hematology conference in New Orleans. The publication of these results would not be possible without the joint effort of all ASCOT collaborators and investigators and the support from our funders.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 are at increased risk of blood clots (or thromboses), which in turn may contribute to development of organ failure. Almost all these patients will receive some degree of blood thinning medication (anticoagulation treatment). The purpose of this domain was to determine which level (low, intermediate or high dose) of anticoagulation treatment showed the most benefit.

Using data from over 1,500 participants across Australia, New Zealand, India and Nepal, the results showed that an intermediate level of anticoagulation had an 86% probability of being better than low dose anticoagulation. A therapeutic (high) dose did not show any benefit.

These results are important as current practice is varied. Standard treatment in Australia is to treat patients with low dose anticoagulation while international guidelines recommend therapeutic dose. Our findings suggest intermediate dose may be more beneficial.

These results are also important in generating evidence from participants in low and middle-income countries, which have been largely underrepresented in COVID-19 studies.  

We hope the outcomes from this domain will add to the current pool of evidence and inform standard practice to treat COVID-19 in non-critically ill patients.