A CO.VID-19 Patient Tragically Died With A Burst Open Heart Due To The Virus' Attack

Dhir Acharya - Apr 28, 2020

It's recently found that SARS-CoV-2 can affect your heart, causing it to burst open and kill you, according to an autopsy on a dead CO.VID-19 patient.

News reports say that the first known dead CO.VID-19 patient in the US died of a burst open heart that was triggered by the attack of the virus, revealed through an autopsy of the patient’s remains.

The patient in question was Patricia Dowd, 57 years old, California, who died inside her home on February 6 after showing symptoms similar to those of the flu. A recent investigation into her death discovered that she was, in fact, infected with SARS-CoV-2, which means the US had the first CO.VID-19 death much earlier than they thought.

covid-19 patient died of burst open heart — The first known dead CO.VID-19 patient in the US died of a burst open heart under the attack of the virus

Initially, she was thought to die from a heart attack. But an autopsy report indicates that the virus infected her heart muscle, causing a valve in the heart to rupture, according to The Mercury News. Forensic pathologist Dr. Judy Melinek said:

“The immune system was attacking the virus and in attacking the virus, it damaged the heart and then the heart basically burst.”

Melinek added that this kind of heart rupture happens more typically in people that have high levels of cholesterol or abnormalities in their heart muscles. However, the case of Dowd’s death is unusual as her heart has a normal weight and size.

The forensic pathologist continued:

“There's something abnormal about the fact that a perfectly normal heart has burst open. Normal hearts don't rupture.”

Before dying of a ruptured heart due to the virus’ attack, Dowd reportedly had good health and did regular exercise.

Previously, we learned that apart from the lungs, CO.VID-19 can affect other organs inside the human body too. Specifically, the virus attacks cells with a combination of the S protein and the ACE2 enzyme. Some other organs in the human body have this enzyme too, which include thyroid, the heart, kidney, and small intestine, so it’s completely believable that SARS-CoV-2 attacked Dowd’s heart and burst it open.

Regardless, the more we know about the virus, the more we find out how scary and dangerous it is.