Turner, Simone, Laubscher, Gert Jacobus, Khan, M Asad et al. · Heliyon · 2023 · DOI
Long COVID patients often have abnormal blood clotting that creates tiny, sticky clots resistant to the body's natural clot-dissolving processes. This study developed a faster, more reliable laboratory test using imaging flow cytometry to detect these microclots in blood samples. The new method successfully identified larger and more numerous microclots in Long COVID patients compared to healthy controls, and it could potentially be used in regular hospital labs to help diagnose and treat affected patients.
This study addresses a critical gap in Long COVID diagnosis by providing a practical, objective laboratory method to detect pathophysiological abnormalities (hypercoagulability and microclot formation) that may drive symptoms. If conventional flow cytometry proves effective, this could enable broad clinical implementation for patient stratification and monitoring of anticoagulant or fibrinolytic therapies. For ME/CFS, which shares similar microclot pathology, this diagnostic advance could facilitate better patient identification and treatment selection.
This methods study does not prove that microclots cause Long COVID symptoms or that detecting them will improve patient outcomes. It also does not establish whether detecting and treating microclots will resolve Long COVID or prevent progression. The study develops a detection tool but does not demonstrate clinical utility, therapeutic efficacy, or whether microclot burden correlates with symptom severity or functional status.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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