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Poster Networking

Vascular Biology, Blood Cells, and Immunothrombosis

PB0885 - Antiphospholipid Antibodies Positivity in Long COVID Patients

Monday, June 24, 2024
13:45 – 14:45 ICT
Room: Exhibition Hall
Background: Persistent symptoms associated with Long COVID have sparked intense research efforts to comprehend the underlying immunological mechanisms. Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) have emerged as potential players in the intricate pathophysiology of Long COVID.

Aims: We aim to identify the frequency of aPL in patients experiencing very prolonged symptoms post-COVID-19 infection and its correlation with hematological alterations.

Methods: The local ethical committee approved the study (CAAE #3244942.4.1001.5262). The inclusion criteria were adults who required hospitalization for the acute phase and exhibited any symptoms after 90 days of COVID-19 diagnosis. Exclusion criteria were being in anticoagulation before the COVID-19 hospitalization during the inclusion period or having an end-stage terminal disease. We enrolled 223 patients from 12/07/2022 to 04/09/2023 at Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The median follow-up days and IQR after the acute phase were 655 (430-818). We evaluated five aPLs: lupus anticoagulant ratio, anticardiolipin IgM and IgG, anti-beta-2glycoprotein-1 IgM, and IgG, and four hematological markers: fibrinogen, d-dimer, platelets, and PTT.

Results: Overall, we identified aPL in 7 patients (3.1%), as shown in the Table. The median age and interquartile range were 58 years (47-67), with a female frequency of 98 (44%). Most patients were of Brown ethnicity 104 (46.6%) and with more than nine years of education (65%). The most frequent comorbidities were hypertension in 99 (24.8%), diabetes in 62 (15.6%), and obesity in 30 (7.5%), and symptom areas were neurological in 201 (17.0%), psychiatric in 170 (14.4%), and musculoskeletal in 151 (12.8%). As depicted in the Figure, we did not find an association between the presence of aPL and hematological abnormalities.

Conclusion(s): The low frequency of aPL and the lack of a hematological association do not support the hypothesis of aPL being involved in the pathophysiology of Long COVID symptoms. Further studies should be conducted to clarify this topic.