How a calf injury could have led to blood clots in Jalen Hurts’ lungs

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Superstar Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts , 28, may be out for the rest of the season after the team said Monday that doctors have diagnosed him with deep vein thrombosis and blood clots in his lungs.

Deep vein thrombosis happens when a blood clot forms in a deep vein, typically in the lower leg, thigh or pelvis.

Pulmonary critical care expert Dr. Parth Rali tells patients to think of the body’s deep veins as highways carrying blood from the legs to the heart and then to the lungs, where it is oxygenated. The oxygen then travels to cells throughout the body to produce energy.

Jalen Hurts appears to be out for the season with blood clots in his lungs. His injury raises tough questions for the Eagles

A clot forms when red blood cells, platelets and a sticky protein called fibrin clump together, creating something almost like a gummy worm, said Dr. Syed T. Zaidi, a vascular surgeon at Orlando Health. The clot can safely dissolve once the body no longer needs it to stop a bleed or heal an injury, but it can become dangerous if it blocks blood flow to organs such as the heart, lungs or brain.

A clot can form because of an injury, such as a hit or cut. Hurts’ case might have been caused by a calf injury he received during an October 4 game against the Los Angeles Rams. He had been stepped on by another player’s cleat, according to the Eagles.

“The injury can create this inflammatory process around it, and it puts you at risk for developing a blood clot,” Zaidi said.

Clots can also be caused by inactivity, such as sitting on a long flight or being immobile after surgery.

Some people may also have a genetic predisposition to develop blood clots.

Smoking and certain conditions, such as cancer, diabetes and Covid-19, can raise the risk of clots, as can atrial fibrillation and being overweight or obese. Some medications, including birth control and hormone replacement therapy, can also increase the risk. Hormonal shifts and physical pressure from the uterus can raise the risk of a clot forming during pregnancy and for six to 12 weeks after birth.

Sometimes, the cause of a clot isn’t clear.

Some people with clots have symptoms, but others may not. A clot in a leg can cause swelling, cramping and pain. Sometimes, the skin near the clot may feel warm to the touch or turn purple or red.

Rali said people often notice they have a clot when calf pain does not improve with regular stretching and hydration after about five days. Sometimes, that leg will look swollen compared with the other.

“If something just does not sound or feel normal, I say don’t wait. Get an ultrasound, and we can make a diagnosis,” Rali said.

A superficial clot forms in superficial veins, which are often visible just below the skin in subcutaneous fat.

With a mild or smaller superficial clot, doctors focus on reducing inflammation and easing pain. Patients are usually told to apply a warm compress, such as a washcloth, a few times a day. Doctors may also tell them to elevate the affected leg or arm to improve blood flow while resting, take a pain reliever such as ibuprofen, stay active to keep blood from pooling and possibly wear compression socks or an elastic bandage.

Doctors typically do a follow-up scan a week or two after the initial detection to make sure the clot has not grown or moved, which would require further treatment.

In Hurts’ case, he told trainers about the leg injury before taking a flight from Philadelphia to London. When he got to the UK, an ultrasound showed superficial vein thrombosis in his left calf. The Eagles said doctors “concluded that activity and movement were important,” and he played against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London and then returned to Philadelphia.

After two days of treatment and a practice session, an ultrasound showed “small movement” in the blood clot, and the Eagles said Hurts would not play against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. On Monday, the team announced that the clot had moved into his lungs.

Some patients with a clot in a superficial vein may also have an undetected clot in a deep vein in the muscle, or a clot could travel from a superficial vein to a deep vein and create a more serious situation.

A long flight, such as the ones Hurts took between Philadelphia and London, could exacerbate a clot.

“You’re sitting around, and maybe you’re a little dehydrated, and your blood gets a little bit thicker,” Zaidi said.

“A big thing we worry about with these thromboses, or these blood clots, is the risk of having a pulmonary embolism, which is when the blood clot travels through your lungs, affects the blood flow to your lung,” Zaidi said.

This could cause the person to stop breathing or lead to heart failure. But with prompt treatment, people can recover.

About 60,000 to 100,000 people in the US die each year from venous thromboembolism, which includes deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .

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What is a pulmonary embolism, the condition that led to Catherine O’Hara’s death?

A pulmonary embolism can happen when a clot breaks off and travels through the bloodstream to the lungs. Bilateral pulmonary emboli , like those Hurts has, mean blood clots are blocking arteries in both lungs.

Symptoms of a pulmonary embolism include chest pain that can worsen when breathing deeply or coughing. A person may suddenly feel short of breath and develop a cough with blood-streaked mucus. They may feel faint or seem confused.

In addition to low blood oxygen levels and low blood pressure, a pulmonary embolism can affect the heart, causing a fast or irregular heart rate, right-sided heart failure or sudden cardiac arrest.

“You may think your asthma is firing up or you have a viral infection, but if things are not making sense to your routine progress of things, don’t ignore the signs,” Rali said.

When clots are in the lungs, patients often need medications called blood thinners, such as heparin or warfarin, to help the body dissolve them.

People often have to take blood thinners for three to six months.

“When you are on a blood thinner, you are at high risk of bleeding, particularly if you are involved in contact sports,” said Rali, director of the Pulmonary Embolism Response Team Program at Temple Health. “The duration for the blood clot is minimum three months, because that’s what time it usually takes for our body to dissolve the blood clot.”

Rali said doctors advise people who are taking blood thinners to avoid activities likely to cause injury, like football or skydiving.

“Unfortunately, that means his doctors would ask him not to be involved in any form of contact activity, which of course involves what he does all the time,” Rali, an Eagles fan, said of Hurts.

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Clots are common, Rali said. In the US alone, nearly 900,000 people are diagnosed with a blood clot in the leg or lung each year.

Hurts is not the first professional athlete to miss games because of blood clots. Carolina Panthers right tackle Taylor Moton missed part of the season after blood clots were found in his lung. San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama missed 30 games in the 2024-25 season because of deep vein thrombosis. NBA star Chris Bosh had to retire because of a clotting condition.

Tennis star Serena Williams, who needed surgery to remove a blood clot from her lungs in 2011 and nearly died from a pulmonary embolism and related complications after she gave birth to daughter in September 2017.

“Given awareness of the risk, treatment and full recovery time are the elements that Hurts will need to happen,” Rali said.

The Eagles said Hurts has a good prognosis, is expected to make a full recovery and can play football after he stops taking blood thinners.

It is a hazard of traveling…DVT

Some people may need additional treatment. Doctors can use catheters to enter blood vessels in the lungs and dissolve or extract the clots. Surgery may be needed to open the heart and remove a clot there.

“You have multiple different options that you can offer, depending on the severity of the blood clot,” Rali said.

Physical activity can help prevent deep vein thrombosis, so it’s important to lead that active lifestyle your doctor is always telling you about. If you have a job where you have to sit at a desk for hours at a time, doctors suggest you should stand frequently, get up and stretch and take some walking breaks so you are moving your feet and legs.

You should even try to move around on a long flight. Getting up once an hour and walking around can help. If that’s not possible, Zaidi recommends doing calf pumps while seated. “It can make a big difference,” he said.

Staying hydrated on long flights is also key since dehydration can lead to the development of blood clots, and compression socks can help keep blood from pooling in the lower limbs.

Other ways to avoid deep vein thrombosis include quitting smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, drinking water throughout the day and avoiding crossing your legs when sitting.

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费城老鹰队明星四分卫杰伦·赫茨（Jalen Hurts）现年 28 岁，球队周一宣布，医生诊断他患有深静脉血栓和肺部血栓，他可能将缺席本赛季剩余的所有比赛。

深静脉血栓形成是指血液在深静脉中形成血栓，通常发生在小腿、大腿或骨盆部位。

肺部重症监护专家帕尔特·拉利医生告诉患者，要把人体深静脉想象成高速公路，它们将血液从腿部输送到心脏，然后再输送到肺部进行氧合。氧气随后输送到全身各处的细胞，产生能量。

杰伦·赫茨因肺部血栓可能赛季报销。他的受伤给老鹰队带来了棘手的问题。

奥兰多健康中心血管外科医生赛义德·T·扎伊迪博士解释说，血栓是由红细胞、血小板和一种叫做纤维蛋白的粘性蛋白质聚集在一起形成的，其形状类似于橡皮糖。一旦身体不再需要它来止血或愈合伤口，血栓就可以安全溶解；但如果它阻塞了心脏、肺或大脑等器官的血液供应，则可能造成危险。

血栓可能由受伤引起，例如撞击或割伤。赫茨的血栓可能源于他在10月4日对阵洛杉矶公羊队的比赛中小腿受伤。据老鹰队称，他当时被另一名球员的鞋钉踩到了。

“伤口周围会引发炎症，这会增加形成血栓的风险，”扎伊迪说。

血栓也可能由缺乏活动引起，例如长时间飞行或手术后卧床不起。

有些人可能存在遗传倾向，容易形成血栓。

吸烟以及某些疾病，例如癌症、糖尿病和新冠肺炎，会增加血栓风险，心房颤动和超重或肥胖也会增加血栓风险。一些药物，包括避孕药和激素替代疗法，也会增加血栓风险。孕期以及产后6至12周内，激素水平的变化和子宫的物理压力都会增加血栓形成的风险。

有时，血栓的成因并不明确。

有些血栓患者会出现症状，而有些患者则可能没有任何症状。腿部血栓会导致肿胀、痉挛和疼痛。有时，血栓附近的皮肤摸起来会发热，或者变成紫色或红色。

拉利说，如果小腿疼痛在持续五天左右，通过规律的拉伸和补水仍未缓解，人们通常会发现小腿里有血栓。有时，患侧腿会比另一侧腿看起来更肿胀。

“如果感觉或听起来不太正常，我的建议是不要犹豫，去做个超声波检查，这样我们就能做出诊断了。”拉利说道。

浅表血栓形成于浅表静脉中，这些静脉通常位于皮肤下方的皮下脂肪层中，肉眼可见。

对于轻微或较小的表浅血栓，医生会着重于消炎止痛。通常建议患者每天用温热的毛巾或湿毛巾敷几次。医生可能还会建议患者在休息时抬高患肢或腿部以促进血液循环，服用布洛芬等止痛药，保持活动以防止血液淤积，并可能需要穿戴弹力袜或弹性绷带。

医生通常会在初次发现血栓后的一到两周内进行复查，以确保血栓没有增大或移位，否则就需要进一步治疗。

赫茨在从费城飞往伦敦之前就告诉了训练员他的腿伤情况。抵达英国后，超声波检查显示他的左小腿有浅表静脉血栓。老鹰队表示，医生“认为活动和运动非常重要”，于是他在伦敦参加了对阵杰克逊维尔美洲虎队的比赛，之后返回了费城。

经过两天的治疗和一次训练后，超声波检查显示血栓有“轻微移动”，老鹰队宣布赫茨将缺席周日对阵卡罗莱纳黑豹队的比赛。周一，球队宣布血栓已转移到他的肺部。

有些患者在浅静脉中出现血栓，但肌肉中的深静脉中可能也存在未被发现的血栓；或者血栓可能从浅静脉游走到深静脉，造成更严重的后果。

像赫茨从费城到伦敦那样的长途飞行，可能会加剧血栓形成。

“你坐着不动，可能有点脱水，血液会变得有点粘稠，”扎伊迪说。

扎伊迪说：“我们最担心的是这些血栓，或者说这些血块，可能会导致肺栓塞，也就是血栓通过肺部，影响肺部的血液流动。”

这可能导致患者呼吸停止或心力衰竭。但只要及时治疗，患者就能康复。

据美国疾病控制与预防中心统计，美国每年约有 6 万至 10 万人死于静脉血栓栓塞症，其中包括深静脉血栓形成和肺栓塞。

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肺栓塞是什么？这种疾病导致了凯瑟琳·奥哈拉的死亡。

当血栓脱落并随血液循环到达肺部时，就会发生肺栓塞。像赫茨这样的双侧肺栓塞意味着血栓阻塞了双肺的动脉。

肺栓塞的症状包括胸痛，深呼吸或咳嗽时疼痛会加剧。患者可能突然感到呼吸困难，并出现咳血痰。他们可能感到头晕或意识模糊。

除了血氧水平低和血压低之外，肺栓塞还会影响心脏，导致心率过快或不规则、右心衰竭或心脏骤停。

“你可能觉得你的哮喘发作了，或者你得了病毒感染，但如果情况与你日常的病情发展不符，就不要忽视这些迹象，”拉利说。

当肺部出现血栓时，患者通常需要服用称为血液稀释剂的药物，例如肝素或华法林，以帮助身体溶解血栓。

人们通常需要服用血液稀释剂三到六个月。

“服用抗凝血药物时，出血风险很高，尤其是在进行接触性运动时，”坦普尔大学健康中心肺栓塞应对小组项目主任拉利说。“血栓至少需要三个月才能溶解，因为我们的身体通常需要这么长时间才能将其溶解。”

拉利表示，医生建议服用血液稀释剂的人避免进行可能造成伤害的活动，例如足球或跳伞。

“不幸的是，这意味着他的医生会要求他不要参与任何形式的接触性活动，这当然包括他一直以来所做的活动，”身为老鹰队球迷的拉利谈到赫茨时说道。

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拉利说，血栓很常见。仅在美国，每年就有近90万人被诊断出患有腿部或肺部血栓。

赫茨并非首位因血栓而缺席比赛的职业运动员。卡罗莱纳黑豹队的右截锋泰勒·莫顿就曾因肺部血栓缺席了部分赛季。圣安东尼奥马刺队的超级球星维克托·温巴尼亚马在2024-25赛季因深静脉血栓缺席了30场比赛。NBA球星克里斯·波什也曾因血栓问题被迫退役。

网球明星塞雷娜·威廉姆斯在 2011 年接受了肺部血栓清除手术，并在 2017 年 9 月生下女儿后，因肺栓塞及相关并发症险些丧命。

“在意识到风险、接受治疗和完全康复之后，赫茨需要具备这些要素，”拉利说。

老鹰队表示，赫茨的预后良好，预计他将完全康复，并在停止服用血液稀释剂后可以重返赛场。

这是旅行的风险之一……深静脉血栓形成

有些人可能需要接受额外的治疗。医生可以使用导管进入肺部血管，溶解或取出血栓。有时也需要手术打开心脏，取出那里的血栓。

“根据血栓的严重程度，你可以提供多种不同的治疗方案，”拉利说。

运动有助于预防深静脉血栓形成，因此保持医生一直建议的积极生活方式非常重要。如果您需要长时间坐在办公桌前，医生建议您经常站立、起身伸展，并适当休息走动，活动一下双脚和双腿。

即使长途飞行，你也应该尽量活动一下。每小时起身走动一下会有帮助。如果实在不行，扎伊迪建议坐着做小腿泵运动。“这会带来很大的不同，”他说。

长途飞行中保持水分充足也很重要，因为脱水会导致血栓形成，而压缩袜可以帮助防止血液积聚在下肢。

避免深静脉血栓形成的其他方法包括戒烟、保持健康体重、全天饮水以及坐着时避免跷二郎腿。