Autopsy studies of patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus show that blood clots are present not only in the lungs, but also in almost every organ. Doctors previously noted that patients with COVID-19 developed blood clots.
COVID-19 attacks the entire body
Amy Rapkiewicz, president of the Pathology Department of NYU Langone Medical Center, spoke to CNN about an article published in The Lancet, which presents the results of research conducted by her and her team. Initially, when the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was just discovered, it was treated as a respiratory disease. It was later found that SARS-CoV-2 affects the blood clotting mechanism and may contribute to the formation of blood clots. These, in turn, can lead to complications such as strokes, kidney failure, inflammation of the heart muscle, and complications from the immune system.
Doctors had previously reported that clots could form in large blood vessels as well as in the lungs, heart and brain due to SARS-CoV-2 infection. A new study suggests that clotting disorders also affect smaller blood vessels.
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Blood clots in smaller blood vessels
In all the cases described in the study, regardless of the anticoagulation treatment received, doctors identified clots rich in platelets in the blood vessels of the lungs, liver, kidneys and heart. In the lung, thrombi involved large and small vessels, and platelets were noted in the alveolar capillaries.
Autopsies also showed the presence of megakaryocytes in the heart, kidneys, liver, and other organs of people who died from COVID-19. Megakaryocytes are large cells in the bone marrow that produce thrombocytes (platelets). Usually these cells do not circulate outside the lungs and bones.
Scientists will try to establish the relationship between megakaryocytes and clots that appear in small blood vessels. Link to the study here.
See also:
- A New York study shows that 88 percent. COVID-19 patients who are ventilated die
- The unusual complications of COVID-19 include: strokes in young people
- Many COVID-19 patients die of thrombosis