Scientists now believe that COVID-19 patients suffer more than respiratory issues.
FILE - A room is empty in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center sits empty, in Lebanon, N.H., Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. Juan Sosa was at home doing pushups in the bedroom where he had isolated himself for almost two weeks after testing positive for COVID-19. His mild symptoms were long gone, and it was the final day of his quarantine.
Tamboli hurried to the emergency room. After a quick examination, he ordered Sosa moved to a cardiac catheterization lab equipped to open blocked arteries.He had performed an estimated 20,000 heart catheterizations, but the effort to save Sosa’s heart — and his life — would be a case like no other. The veterans also had a higher likelihood of experiencing irregular heart rhythms and potentially deadly blood clots, the study found. They had a 52 percent higher risk of stroke, a 63 percent higher risk of heart attack and 72 percent increased risk of heart failure.
Why COVID-19 patients are more prone to clots is not clear, Becker said. It could be connected to inflammation of blood vessels and certain kinds of antibodies.Sosa had all the symptoms of someone whose artery was dangerously clogged by either cholesterol plaque or a blood clot. Knowing he had little time left and only a rough idea of where the clot was, Tamboli asked a nurse for the longest stent they had. Then he fitted the 1¼-inch-long mesh tube inside Sosa’s right coronary artery.
The device was inserted through the same femoral artery. But even with the pump, Sosa’s heartbeat remained weak. When Tamboli made his rounds, he examined Sosa himself. An echocardiogram showed a stronger heartbeat. Sosa occasionally opened his eyes. Standing next to their unconscious patient, doctor and nurse hugged and cried. They didn’t know Sosa but they knew how hard the medical team had worked to save him. They knew how close he had been to death.It was another two days before Sosa regained consciousness.