Covid causing blood clots in patients: docs

As the coronavirus spread through New York City in late March, doctors at Mount Sinai Hospital noticed that something strange was happening to the patients’ blood. Doctors from different specialties detected signs of blood thickening and clotting in different organs. Nephrologists noted that the kidney dialysis catheters were clogged with clots. Pulmonologists who monitored Covid-19 patients with mechanical ventilators could see that parts of the lungs were strangely bloodless. Neurosurgeons faced an increase in their usual stroke load due to blood clots, the age of younger and younger victims.

“It is very surprising how much this disease causes clots to form,” said Dr. J Mocco, a neurosurgeon at Mount Sinai, and described how some doctors believe Covid-19 is more than a lung disease. In the three weeks that began in mid-March, Mocco saw 32 stroke patients with large blood blocks in the brain, double the usual number for that period. Five were unusually young, under the age of 49, with no obvious risk factors for strokes. The youngest was only 31 years old. At least half of the 32 patients would test positive.

Patients now receive high doses of an anticoagulant medication even before any evidence of coagulation appears. “Maybe, just maybe, if you prevent clotting, you can make the disease less severe,” said Dr. David Reich, president of the hospital. The new protocol will not be used in certain high-risk patients because diluents can cause bleeding in the brain and other organs.