How on Earth does someone treat a life-threatening blood clot when you’re in space ? Dr Stephan Moll at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine – a doctor and clotting expert – can tell you how.
In an unprecedented case, an astronaut on a six-month mission at the International space station developed a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in the jugular vein, two months into their mission. There were no symptoms to detect the clot, which was thrown up during a routine ultrasound of all the astronauts’ necks in a study of how body fluid is redistributed in zero gravity.
A 3D model of the International Space Station (ISS). Image Courtesy: NASA
Returning to Earth was not an option, because space travel is expensive and not to be taken lightly, NASA contacted Dr Moll to treat the astronaut.
Not wanting to miss the chance to go to space, Moll asked if NASA could send him off to the space station for the astronaut’s treatment. NASA responded in the negative. Sworn under the Hippocratic oath and with an astronaut’s life hanging in the balance, Moll went ahead with the diagnosis and treatment from right here on Earth.
“NASA told me they couldn’t get me up to space quickly enough, so I proceeded with the evaluation and treatment process from here in Chapel Hill,” said Moll.
Normally, doctors would refer to previous cases to check the prognosis but this was an unprecedented case and Moll had no diagnostics or samples to turn to – they had to set a precedent. Moll and a team of NASA doctors decided to treat the astronaut with blood thinners, which everyone agreed was the best course of treatment.
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