Nuvaring Lawsuit News
Your pulmonary arteries carry blood from your heart’s right ventricle (lower chamber) to your lungs. Once blood has been replenished with oxygen, it returns to the left side of your heart. From there, it is circulated throughout your body to deliver oxygen to your organs and tissues. Nuvaring side effects involving a pulmonary embolism interrupts this mechanism, and can potentially damage your lung tissue. In extreme cases, the condition can also be fatal. If you have suffered from blood clots after using this birth control please contact us for the latest Nuvaring lawsuit news.
A PE is caused by blood clots (called thrombi) that block the pulmonary arteries. In nine out of ten diagnosed cases, these clots originate in the deep veins of the legs (called deep vein thrombosis, or DVT). They travel to the arteries of the lungs, and cause an obstruction that restricts blood flow to the lung tissue. Depending on your medical history, and the severity of the condition, emergency treatment may be necessary.
First Response To A PE
Once your doctor confirms your vital signs are under control, he or she will determine the most appropriate first response. Assuming the pulmonary arterial blockage is mild, and thus does not present an immediate danger to your life, treatment normally begins with anticoagulation therapy. It is administered with warfarin and heparin.
Both may be given at the same time. Warfarin is given orally in pill form, and requires a few days to take effect. Heparin is given intravenously, and starts to work immediately. Once warfarin begins to show results, heparin is usually stopped.
Both drugs are sometimes called “blood thinners” even though neither actually “thins” your blood. Instead, they interrupt your body’s clotting process, thereby slowing the rate of coagulation. One of the risks of anticoagulation therapy is that the medications can cause internal bleeding. Given the nature of a Nuvaring PE, however, the benefits of providing these drugs usually outweigh the risk.
Thrombolytic Drugs For Aggressive Treatment
In some cases, a pulmonary embolism is large, or has gone untreated for an extended period. Both circumstances can pose an immediate health risk. The PE may threaten to cause substantial – and permanent – lung damage, and even place your life in danger. In such times, thrombolytic drugs are given. This is a treatment approach that is more aggressive than anticoagulation therapy.
Unlike anticoagulants that merely slow the rate of coagulation, thrombolytics actively dissolve existing clots. They activate a proenzyme called plasminogen, and convert it into an enzyme called plasmin. Plasmin is an essential component of your body’s fibrinolysis process (i.e. the breakdown of blood clots). It causes fibrin strands, which “hold” clots together, to deteriorate.
The problem with thrombolytic medications is similar to that of using anticoagulants: internal bleeding. Here, the risk is higher, however. Most doctors are thus loathe to administer thrombolytics if their patients have undergone recent surgery, or have an existing bleeding disorder. When they are given, it is usually because the patient’s life is at stake.
Surgical Clot Elimination
Prior to the introduction and widespread availability of thrombolytic medications, surgical embolectomy was the primary emergency treatment approach. This is a procedure during which an embolus is removed. It may be performed using a catheter, or through open chest surgery (i.e. thoracotomy). During the operation, the surgeon will usually place a filter in the vena cava to prevent subsequent clots from reaching the lungs. You may also be placed on anticoagulants for several months following the procedure.
Doctors normally reserve pulmonary embolectomy as a treatment option for patients who are dying, or cannot tolerate thrombolytic drugs due to the risk of hemorrhage. Sometimes, the procedure is done when thrombolysis fails to dissolve clots quickly enough.
Nuvaring Lawsuit News
As mentioned earlier, the consequences of a pulmonary embolism can be mild or severe. Mortality is rare, and depends largely on an accurate, timely diagnosis and prompt treatment. If you have suffered from blood clots, DVT, or other serious Nuvaring side effects, you may be able to file a claim against the contraceptive ring’s manufacturer. Contact a Nuvaring lawsuit 2011 attorney to discuss your case.