If you cut your fingers while chopping vegetables, you benefit from an ingenious system of the body: blood clotting. If a wound occurs in a blood vessel, various messenger substances and specialized cells, the platelets, ensure that the precious liquid does not flow out unchecked. The blood curdles. It clumps to close the gap.
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The blood coagulation must be finely balanced. If the blood does not clot or only slowly, as in the case of hemophilia, this can be dangerous for those affected, for example with internal bleeding. If the blood clots too quickly or quickly, clots form that can block the vessels. These clots are also called thrombi, the process is referred to as thrombosis.
The clots often form in the veins of the pelvis or leg. Typical symptoms are swelling of the ankle or leg, the calf can hurt like a sore muscle, and sometimes the skin turns blue. If the thrombosis remains untreated, the clot can detach and be washed into another vessel. The possible serious consequences: If the blood clot blocks a pulmonary artery, this leads to pulmonary embolism. If a vessel in the brain is blocked, there is a risk of a stroke. If a clot gets into a coronary artery and stops blood flow there, a heart attack is the result.
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Seriously ill Covid patients have an increased risk of thrombosis
Laboratory values, like the observations of many doctors, indicate that blood clotting is too strong in people with a severe Covid 19 course. So you have an increased risk of thrombosis.
“A deep leg vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism was observed in a third of the Covid-19 patients requiring intensive care,” says cardiologist Ilka Ott, chief physician at Helios Klinikum Pforzheim.
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In general, severe inflammation can increase the risk of thrombosis, especially if the disease causes the patient to be bedridden. Doctors also believe that the Sars-CoV-2 virus can also affect cells that form the inner walls of blood vessels – and that can trigger blood clotting. This could explain why coagulation is increased in many Covid 19 patients. Patients who are in the intensive care unit with the disease are therefore given blood thinners as a precaution, several German heart specialists told SPIEGEL.
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Prevention in mild cases: drink plenty, move enough
After the experience with Covid 19 patients, doctors have already indicated in a consensus paper that about one in five of those affected have a coagulation disorder, especially those who are seriously and critically ill and who need treatment in the hospital or even ventilation.
In order to prevent those with a mild course of Covid-19 thrombosis, according to the opinion, it makes sense that the patients drink enough water and exercise regularly. Because sitting for a long time with no movement of legs and feet also increases the risk of thrombosis is known from a situation that occurs much less frequently due to the corona pandemic: when sitting tightly on long-haul flights.
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