New cause of COVID-19 blood clots identified.

[2greys]

Blood clots continue to wreak havoc for patients with severe COVID-19 infection, and a new study explains what may spark them in up to half of patients.

The culprit: an autoimmune antibody that’s circulating in the blood, attacking the cells and triggering clots in arteries, veins, and microscopic vessels. Blood clots can cause life-threatening events like strokes. And, in COVID-19, microscopic clots may restrict blood flow in the lungs, impairing oxygen exchange.

Outside of novel coronavirus infection, these clot-causing antibodies are typically seen in patients who have the autoimmune disease antiphospholipid syndrome. The connection between autoantibodies and COVID-19 was unexpected, says co-corresponding author Yogen Kanthi, M.D., an assistant professor at the Michigan Medicine Frankel Cardiovascular Center and a Lasker Investigator at the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

bioengineer.org/new-cause-o...

Science Translational Medicine. Research Paper:

stm.sciencemag.org/content/...

[SquirrelsHolt]

Morning to you 2greys and this is a well sourced article by yourself- it's been a worry for me that if I'm unlucky enough to contract COVID-19, one of my biggest worries would be bloodclots in the lungs. Your article gives news on new findings that look particularly good. 🐿🌈

[Ergendl]

Interesting about the antiphospholipid syndrome. The walls of cells are made up of phospholipids, so anything attacking those attacks all the basic structures of the body.