Are astronauts more likely to develop blood clots? That’s the question Nasa is trying to answer alongside UNC School of Medicine’s Professor Stephan Moll MD.
A new publication in Vascular Medicine shows the results of an occupational surveillance programme that took place after an astronaut developed a blood clot during a mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
This was the first time a blood clot had been found in an astronaut in space, so there was no established method of treatment for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in zero gravity. Therefore, Nasa called upon Moll, a member of the UNC Blood Research Center, for his knowledge and treatment experience of DVT on Earth.
"Knowing there are no emergency rooms in space, we had to weigh our options very carefully,” Moll said.
In the ultimate act of telemedicine, Moll and Nasa physicians helped treat the astronaut over several months, until they safely returned to Earth.
This astronaut’s blood...