Is therapeutic anticoagulation improving renal outcomes in COVID-19?

Abstract

We present three patients with COVID-19 who developed acute renal failure during hospitalization and were seen to have an improvement in their kidney function after being started on therapeutic anticoagulation with heparin (Target PTT 58–93 seconds) for varying indications (atrial fibrillation, popliteal vein thrombosis and a pulmonary embolism). Their kidney functions improved significantly following anticoagulation with a clear temporal relationship between the former and latter. Anticoagulation was held for one patient due to concern of gastrointestinal bleeding and his kidney functions worsened a day after stopping anticoagulation. D-dimer levels also improved with anticoagulation but the trend of other inflammatory markers remained unpredictable.

Keywords

• anticoagulation
• renal failure
• atrial fibrillation