LONDON, ONT. -- Two published studies are providing evidence for predictions how severe a patient’s illness will become, and why some patients develop life threatening blood clots.
Both studies are being looked at by a team from Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University.
In the first study researchers have been using blood samples from critically ill patients at LHSC, and have discovered biomarkers that can be used to predict which patient will survive following standard ICU treatment.
“When a patient is admitted to the ICU, we normally wait to see if they are going to get worse before we consider any risky interventions,” says Dr. Douglas Fraser, lead researcher from Lawson. “To improve outcomes, we not only need new therapies but also a way to predict prognosis or which patients are going to get worse.”
The second study also used blood samples to research why some COVID patients develop serious blood clots.
Blood clots can be a major complication that occurs in most critically ill COVID-19 patients. The problem occurs with clotting in the lungs small blood vessels which lead to low oxygen levels in the blood.
Fraser says both studies are aimed at better treatments and outcomes for future COVID patients.
“Through our combined findings, we hope to provide tools to predict which patients will become the most severely ill and treatments for both hyper-inflammation and blood clots.”
