English 
Italian Il ruolo del laboratorio di coagulazione nel monitoraggio del trattamento eparinico dei pazienti con COVID-19
The role of laboratory monitoring in heparin treatment of COVID-19 patients
AUTORI
1Laboratorio Analisi Chimico Cliniche e Microbiologiche, A.O. Ordine Mauriziano, Torino
2Synlab Castenedolo, Castenedolo (BS)
3Servizio di Immunoematologia e Medicina Trasfusionale, Ospedale Papa Giovanni XXIII, Bergamo
4CMID, Centro Malattie Rare, San Giovanni Bosco, Torino
ABSTRACT
The role of laboratory monitoring in heparin treatment of COVID-19 patients.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can be associated with serious clinical complications such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), sepsis and multiple organ failure (MOF). A key event in the pathophysiology of ARDS is immunothrombosis, a process initiated by the innate immune system that provides a first line of defense for local control of infection. In its physiological form, immunothrombosis is intended to facilitate the recognition, containment and destruction of pathogens, thus protecting the integrity of the host without inducing significant collateral damage. The cytokine storm that occurs during COVID-19 induces often venous and arterial thrombotic events affecting different organs, not limited to the respiratory system. It is therefore necessary to introduce an anticoagulant treatment in patients with COVID-19 to prevent the onset and the extension of thrombotic events. The low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) is the first-choice drug recommended by the main international scientific societies; alternatively, unfractionated heparin (UFH) or fondaparinux can be used. The dosage of these drugs in patients with COVID-19 is still under discussion. The coagulation testing plays an important role in monitoring the efficacy and safety of UFH treatment; in the case of LMWHs, these usually do not require monitoring but, if alterations of renal function occur, it is important to perform the chromogenic determinations of the anti-Xa activity, paying a particular attention to the timing of sampling, the pre-analytical variables, calibration of the test and reference ranges.