Patient Information on Long COVID

Long COVID is the term for a condition in which patients continue to have symptoms after surviving a COVID-19 infection, often for weeks or months. The most common symptoms are fatigue, shortness of breath, difficulty concentrating, and muscle and joint pain.

Treatment Protocol: H.E.L.P. Apheresis and Targeted Anticoagulant Therapy

A significant number of our Long COVID patients have experienced a significant improvement in their symptoms with our treatment protocol, which consists of a combination of H.E.L.P. apheresis and targeted anticoagulant therapy (3)(4).

Heparin-Induced Extracorporeal LDL Precipitation

H.E.L.P.-Apherese at Clinicum St. Georg

H.E.L.P. apheresis is a well-established procedure originally developed as a last-resort treatment option for patients with severe vascular disease. It is a mechanical blood filtration with a heparin filter that removes cholesterol, coagulation factors, autoantibodies, bacterial toxins, and inflammatory mediators such as cytokines and tumor necrosis factor-α toxins. It is believed that H.E.L.P. apheresis can also remove the SARS CoV-2 spike protein and microclots that occur in patients with Long COVID (5).

The result of H.E.L.P. apheresis is an improvement in organ perfusion, endothelial function and microcirculation. In addition, the treatment has an anti-inflammatory and anticoagulant effect (5).

Dr. med. Beate Jaeger
Dr. med. Beate Jaeger

Patients who respond positively to our treatment protocol typically require 3 to 8 apheresis sessions to achieve significant improvement. In addition, early treatment appears to increase the overall chances of success, as patients who begin the treatment protocol early in their Long COVID disease usually require fewer apheresis sessions.

In some cases, however, H.E.L.P. apheresis is not enough. Patients who have been suffering from the disease for a prolonged period of time may require additional treatment. Also, patients whose symptoms of Long COVID have only worsened after vaccination appear to benefit from H.E.L.P. apheresis but may require additional therapies, especially if they are diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.

Literatur
  1. Pretorius, E., Vlok, M., Venter, C., Bezuidenhout, J. A., Laubscher, G. J., Steenkamp, J., & Kell, D. B. (2021). Die persistierende Gerinnungsproteinpathologie bei Long COVID/Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) wird von erhöhten Antiplasminspiegeln begleitet. Kardiovaskuläre Diabetologie, 20(1), 172. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12933-021-01359-7
  2. Pretorius, E., Venter, C., Laubscher, G. J., Kotze, M. J., Oladejo, S. O., Watson, L. R., Rajaratnam, K., Watson, B. W. & Kell, D. B. (2022). Prävalenz von Symptomen, Komorbiditäten, Fibrin-Amyloid-Mikrogerinnseln und Thrombozytenpathologie bei Personen mit langen COVID/postakuten Folgen von COVID-19 (PASC). Kar- diovaskuläre Diabetologie, 21(1), 148. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12933-022-01579-5
  3. “Long COVID Patients Benefit from the Use of HELP apheresis – Proof of Principle” Download PDF Von Dr. Jaeger et. al, 2021-04-07. Unveröffentlichtes Papier.
  4. Artikel DEUTSCHES ÄRZTEBLATT. (2021-07-25). “Extrakorporale Verfahren für COVID-19-Patienten bisher wenig genutzt”. Interview mit Dr. Jaeger. https://www.aerzteblatt.de/nachrichten/114029/Extrakorporale-Verfahren-fuer-COVID-19-Patienten-bisher-wenig-genutzt.
  5. Kell, D. B., Laubscher, G. J. & Pretorius, E. (2022). Eine zentrale Rolle für Amyloid-Fibrin-Mikrokratien bei langen COVID/PASC: Ursprünge und therapeutische Implikationen. The Biochemical journal, 479(4), 537–559. https://doi.org/10.1042/BCJ20220016