A new University of Kentucky College of Medicine study may provide answers for why so many COVID-19 patients experience thrombosis, or the formation of blood clots that obstruct blood flow through the circulatory system.

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The research led by Jeremy Wood, Zach Porterfield and Jamie Sturgill in the Department of Internal Medicine; Beth Garvy in Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics; and Wally Whiteheart in Molecular & Cellular Biochemistry, suggests that localized inflammation in the lungs caused by COVID-19 may be responsible for the increased presence of blood clots in patients. The study also provides evidence suggesting the risk of thrombosis could persist after the infection clears.

The study examined the blood of 30 COVID-19 patients including 15 who were inpatients in the intensive care unit, and 15 who received care as outpatients at UK’s Infectious Diseases Clinic, along with eight disease-free volunteers who acted as a control group.