Acute respiratory failure (ARF) due to COVID is associated with an increased risk of thrombosis causing death. Therapeutic heparin administration was not beneficial in the critically ill.~In non-COVID ARF patients, the presence of multiple pulmonary vessel filling defects associated with the severity of disease and patient outcome, and resolved following the administration of the fibrinolytics, streptokinase and urokinase. An early phase I study reported improved oxygenation in patients with severe ARF following administration of plasminogen activators. The rationale for fibrinolytics in ARF has been published previously and is supported by meta-analysis of preclinical studies.~In both non-COVID and COVID associated ARF, defective fibrinolysis has been demonstrated. Standard coagulation tests cannot identify a hypercoagulable state nor assess fibrinolysis whereas viscoelastic testing (VET), a rapid, point-of-care device commonly used in Intensive Care, is able to detect these disorders. Numerous studies have demonstrated that VET is sufficiently sensitive to detect the coagulopathies associated with ARF, with several parameters associating with disease severity.~The VETtiPAT ARF trial uses VET to identify ARF patients with a procoagulant and hypofibrinolytic phenotype, then to guide tPA (Alteplase) administration thus maximising efficacy and safety through a personalised precision medicine approach.
Patients with coronavirus disease (COVID) and non-COVID acute respiratory failure (ARF) may be at an increased risk of thrombosis due to increased clot formation and decreased clot lysis. This two stage study aims to utilise bedside coagulation technology to detect patients at increased risk and guide tPA treatment to maximise efficacy and safety through a personalised approach.