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Review
. 2020 Sep:193:110-115.
doi: 10.1016/j.thromres.2020.06.008. Epub 2020 Jun 5.

Mechanisms involved in the development of thrombocytopenia in patients with COVID-19

Yujiao Zhang  1 , Xiaoyuan Zeng  1 , Yingying Jiao  1 , Zongpeng Li  1 , Qifa Liu  1 , Jieyu Ye  2 , Mo Yang  3
Affiliations
Review

Mechanisms involved in the development of thrombocytopenia in patients with COVID-19

Yujiao Zhang et al. Thromb Res. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Emerging genetic and clinical evidence suggests similarities between COVID-19 patients and those with severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome. Hematological changes such as lymphopenia and thrombocytopenia are not rare in COVID-19 patients, and a smaller population of these patients had leukopenia. Thrombocytopenia was detected in 5-41.7% of the patients with COVID-19. Analyzing the dynamic decrease in platelet counts may be useful in the prognosis of patients with COVID-19. However, the mechanisms underlying the development of thrombocytopenia remain to be elucidated. This review summarizes the hematological changes in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and possible underlying mechanisms of thrombocytopenia development.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Thrombocytopenia.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest There are no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Hypothesis of the mechanisms employed by SARS-CoV-2 in attacking hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells [40,41,42,45,46].
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Possible mechanisms of thrombocytopenia caused by lung damage [54,56,57].
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Possible indirect mechanisms involved in the development of thrombocytopenia [[42], [43], [44],[56], [57], [58], [59]].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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