Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infection Managed by Interventional Radiology

Ierardi, Anna Maria; Coppola, Andrea; Tortora, Silvia; Valconi, Elena; Piacentino, Filippo; Fontana, Federico; Stellato, Elvira; Cogliati, Chiara Beatrice; Torzillo, Daniela; Giampalma, Emanuela; Renzulli, Matteo; Bargellini, Irene; Cioni, Roberto; Scandiffio, Rossella; Spinazzola, Angelo; Foà , Riccardo Alessandro; Del Giudice, Costantino; Venturini, Massimo; Carrafiello, Gianpaolo

Background: This study was conducted to evaluate the technical and clinical success of trans-arterial embolization (TAE) as a treatment of gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) in Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients and to describe its safety; moreover, we describe the characteristics of these patients. Methods: Thirty-four COVID-19 hospitalized patients presented with GIB. Risk factors, drugs administered for COVID-19 infection, and clinical and biological parameters were evaluated. Furthermore, intraprocedural data and outcomes of embolization were analyzed. Results: GIB was more frequent in male. Overweight, hypertension, diabetes, previous cardiac disease, and anticoagulation preadmission (48.5%) were frequently found in our population. Previous or actual COVID Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and a high level of D-dimer were encountered in most cases. Upper GIB was more frequent than lower GIB. Technical and clinical success rates of embolization were 88.2% and 94.1%, respectively. The complication rate was 5.9%. Conclusions: Our study highlights the most frequent characteristics of COVID-19 patients with GIB. Embolization is feasible, effective, and safe.