Blood therapy research in Stony Brook COVID-19 patients yields promising results
New research at Stony Brook University Hospital is showing that anti-coagulation therapies could help patients as they battle COVID-19, especially those with a predisposition to developing blood clots.
The study involved more than 200 patients who were intubated at the Stony Brook hospital. Doctors adjusted the doses of blood thinners to the level of blood clotting in patients and found that it increased chances of survival.
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Other studies have used a fixed dose of blood thinners.
The results of the study showed that 27% of those critically ill patients who were given the treatment died as compared to 58% of critically ill patients who did not receive this protocol.
Gail Rooney, 75, of Medford, was given the treatment at Stony Brook and survived coronavirus, cancer, stroke and a blood clot.
“I don't think I'm special. I just think I'm ordinary, but people around me say I'm special,” she told News 12. “I guess the Lord doesn't want me dead. He kept me here for something.”
Dr. Apostolos Tassiopoulos, of Stony Brook University Hospital, led the study last March.
“We have looked at things that worked and things that haven't worked and we stuck with thing that clearly makes a difference,” he told News 12.
The anti-coagulation therapy is now standard at Stony Brook. Researchers say it has helped lower the COVID-19 death rate, along with other therapies.