High blood viscosity tied to greater risk of death in hospital COVID patientsHigh estimated blood viscosity (eBV) is significantly associated with greater risk of death from complications among hospitalized COVID-19 patients, suggests a retrospective study published yesterday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.A team led by researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City analyzed the eBV and outcomes of 5,621 hospitalized COVID-19 patients with lab results available within 24 hours of diagnosis from Feb 27, 2020, to Nov 27, 2021.
Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's resistance to flow, so higher BV means the heart works harder to pump blood.Both high-flow (eg, in the arteries) and low-flow eBV (eg, in smaller blood vessels) were linked to respective 60% and 32% higher rates of in-hospital death.
Each 1-centipoise (BV unit) increase in high- and low-flow eBV was associated with a 36% and 7% rise in death rate, respectively.Relative to patients in the lowest quartile of high-flow eBV, those in the highest quartile had 53% higher death rates (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.53; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.27 to 1.84).
The link was observed across multiple subgroups, particularly among those without underlying illnesses (aHR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.28 to 2.22).The researchers noted that high BV induces injury to the membrane lining the inside of the heart and blood vessels and raises the risk of blood clots.