Autopsies on 10 African American patients who died from COVID-19 show their lungs were filled with blood clots, according to a new study.
The autopsies were performed at University Medical Center in New Orleans by a team of pathologists from the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans. It's believed to be the first autopsy series on African Americans whose cause of death was attributed to COVID-19, according to the study, which was published Wednesday in monthly scientific journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
"We found that the small vessels and capillaries in the lungs were obstructed by blood clots and associated hemorrhage that significantly contributed to decompensation and death in these patients," Dr. Richard Vander Heide, head of pathology research at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, said in a statement. "We also found elevated levels of D-dimers -- fragments of proteins involved in breaking down blood clots. What we did not see was myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle, that early reports suggested significantly contributes to death from COVID-19."
The small vessel clotting is a new finding that appears to be specific to COVID-19, according to the study.
The 10 deceased patients were black men and women between the ages of 40 and 70, many of whom had a history of hypertension, obesity, diabetes and chronic kidney disease. In all cases, the patients had experienced sudden respiratory decompensation or collapse at home approximately three to seven days after developing a mild cough and fever.
The new findings come after some U.S. states released mortality data based on race and ethnicity that show the novel coronavirus kills black Americans at a disproportionately high rate.
"Our study presents a large series of autopsies within a specific demographic experiencing the highest rate of adverse outcomes within the United States," said Dr. Sharon Fox, another co-author of the study.
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