Thrombosis is commonly associated with COVID-19; however, the impact of enoxaparin, an anti-clotting drug, on COVID-19 remains uncertain. 

Usha Perepu, MBBS, MRCP, clinical associate professor in Hematology, Oncology, and Blood and Marrow Transplantation, and Isaac Chambers, MD, former Hematology and Medical Oncology chief fellow, conducted a multi-center, open-label, randomized, controlled trial comparing the outcome of standard and intermediate doses of enoxaparin on people with severe COVID-19. Their findings were published in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. 

“Early on during the pandemic, research showed that patients infected with COVID-19 are at increased risk for thrombosis and death, however the optimal approach to preventing thrombosis was unknown,” Perepu said.

Assessing 176 people who were hospitalized with COVID-19, Perepu’s research team found that there was no significant difference between the two dosages in preventing death or thrombosis after 30 days. In addition to those treated at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, patient data was also contributed by Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and Louisiana State University Health Shreveport in Shreveport, Louisiana.

With this conclusion, Perepu and Chambers calls for more research, some of which is already underway at Iowa.

“We are very proud that our institution was able to contribute to answering this very important question,” Perepu said.

Perepu and Chambers collaborated with Abdul Wahab, MD, associate in General Internal Medicine; Sanjana Dayal, PhD, associate professor in Hematology, Oncolgy, and Blood and Marrow Transplantation; Grerk Sutamtewagul, MD, clinical assistant professor in Hematology, Oncology, and Blood and Marrow Transplantation; and Steven R. Lentz, MD, PhD, professor in Hematology, Oncology, and Blood and Marrow Transplantation. 

Additionally, among the inter-departmental, multi-institutional team was Patrick Ten Eyck, MS, PhD, assistant director for UI Biostastics and Research Design; Chaorong Wu, PhD, of UI Institute for Clinical & Translational Science; Steven R. Bailey, MD, chair of Medicine at LSU Shreveport; Lori J. Rosenstein, MD, clinical assistant professor of Hematology and Oncology at Gundersen Health (and graduate of Iowa’s internal medicine residency and fellowship in hematology and medical oncology).