Risk for VTE Up for IBD Patients Infected With SARS-CoV-2

THURSDAY, June 24, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who contract severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection may have a markedly increased risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE), according to a study published online June 14 in Gastroenterology.

Nadim Mahmud, M.D., from the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, and colleagues studied a nationwide cohort of IBD patients to examine the incremental risk for VTE in patients with underlying IBD who contract SARS-CoV-2. All 428 patients with IBD who developed an incident VTE event between April 1, 2020, and March 30, 2021, were included. For each patient, a 30-day window was established prior to VTE and 10 30-day window control periods were generated.

The researchers noted 58 SARS-CoV-2 infections during the study window; 21 occurred within 30 days prior to a VTE. SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with 8.15-fold increased odds of VTE in models adjusting for recent hospitalization and steroid exposure (95 percent confidence interval, 4.34 to 15.30; P < 0.001). There was no significant association observed between SARS-CoV-2 infection and VTE when limited to patients taking chronic anticoagulation medications (odds ratio, 0.63; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.08 to 5.15; P = 0.66). For patients not previously on anticoagulation, the association was stronger (odds ratio, 14.31; 95 percent confidence interval, 6.90 to 29.66; P < 0.001).

"Our data suggest that IBD patients who contract SARS-CoV-2 have a substantially increased risk of VTE and may therefore benefit from prophylaxis," the authors write.

Two authors disclosed financial ties to biopharmaceutical and nutrition companies, including Pfizer, which provided an unrestricted research grant to support the study.

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