Lingering Post-COVID Vascular Risks

George Burns once opined that “the secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible.” The same might be said for blogs. If so, this is a pretty good blog post.

We have known for some time that patients with COVID-19 are at risk for dangerous blood clots (also called deep vein thrombosis, or DVT), pulmonary embolism, and bleeding. Findings reported this month in the British Medical Journal reveal that this risk continues several months after COVID recovery.

The study compared more than one million people in Sweden who had COVID-19 to a control group of more than 4 million people who did not. The overall risks for each problem were low, but still elevated for up to six months following COVID. According to the report, DVT occurred in 0.04% of patients who had had COVID and in just 0.01% of control patients during the same time. Pulmonary embolism occurred in 0.17% of post-COVID patients and in 0.004% of control patients. And bleeding events occurred in 0.10% of patients who had recovered from COVID, while only 0.04% of control patients had such a problem.

While the risks of blood clots and bleeding were highest in patients whose COVID had been more severe, those who had had mild COVID still showed an elevated risk.

Bottom line: You are not out of the woods after you recover from COVID. Significant problems can arise a few months later.

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