Evidence of systemic endothelial injury and microthrombosis in hospitalized COVID-19 patients at different stages of the disease

Schistocytes are fragments of red blood cells which maybe encountered in the peripheral blood smear of patientssufering from a variety of microangiopathic diseases. In the hospitalized COVID-19 patients at diferent stages of disease severity, a schistocyte count ≥ 1% was documented in approximately 70% of patients. Evidence of myocardial injury was observed in 87.5% of all who had a count of schistocytes ≥ 1%. Schistocytes may serve as a simple and inexpensive biomarker to identify a high-risk subpopulation with a latent systemic microvascular damage irrespective of respiratory symptoms