Covid-19: 86-Year-Old Woman's Fingers Turn Black, Amputated By Doctors In Italy

Disturbing pictures shared in the European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery showed pictures of an 86-year-old woman's fingers which turned black, after she got diagnosed with Covid-19. Her fingers eventually had to be cut off. 

The neurotic dead fingers are being called as 'severe manifestation' of the coronavirus and have been found in several patients where it has caused severe damage to the blood vessels and even blood clots. 

The woman reportedly had ''dry gangrene of the second, fourth and fifth fingers of the right hand’ but did not happen to have any symptoms of Covid-19, mentioned the journal. 

Scientists believe that the woman might have had acute coronary syndrome in March due to which blood flow to the heart is reduced suddenly and blood clots cut off supply to her fingers.  

The immune system can go into overdrive in the ‘cytokine storm’ when healthy tissue can be damaged, and if blood vessels are damaged, there is a chance of them leaking, hence, blood pressure can drop and patients can have increased clots forming.

When the doctors found a lack of blood flow in her heart, the woman was prescribed blood-thinning drugs. She was later tested positive for Covid-19 and after a month, when she reported no symptoms for the virus, the woman developed dry gangrene resulting in her fingers turning them black.

Covid is a multi-system disease and one of its features that differs it from other viral diseases is this more hypercoagulable state, in which the blood clots more than necessary, shared Grahan Cooke, Professor at National Institute for Health Research. 

Doctors claim that they have noticed a large number of patients with Covid-19 having blood clotting issues. Professor Roopen Arya, from King’s College London, estimated that 30% of Covid-19 patients had blood clots in May. Thrombosis is a major problem during COVID-19 infection, he added.