Evolving experience with TEG, clotting parameters, treatment considerations, and ongoing data gathering will help us better understand if antiplatelet therapy with aspirin or clopidogrel or anticoagulant treatment with traditional or low-molecular-weight heparin can change outcomes positively in cases where hypercoagulable states can be identified.

TEG may be a pivotal test in helping us distinguish the need for such interventions, but for now, as TEG remains an in-hospital tool, it will take careful prehospital assessment to help identify those who may need such a targeted evaluation.

Although most people infected with this novel virus will either be asymptomatic carriers or have a less severe clinical course, those who do become ill and hospitalized can experience serious and life-threatening complications.

As emphasized by this discussion, many of these very significant complications may be the result of a COVID-driven hypercoagulable state associated with a significant inflammatory response. These complications can have significant consequences.

While it is not always clear who has developed or will develop this clotting diathesis, awareness is key.

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