Yet the weird finding excited lung specialists who now are studying if it helps explain why often, the sickest coronavirus patients don't get enough oxygen despite being on ventilators. The tale illustrates how months into the pandemic, scientists still are struggling to unravel the myriad ways the coronavirus attacks -- and finding hints in surprising places. As the microbubbles circulate, the smallest blood vessels in healthy lungs — called capillaries — will trap and filter them out of the bloodstream. His new theory: Doctors know the coronavirus attacks the lining of blood vessels, causing dangerous clots. The findings are preliminary, not proof that dilated blood vessels are a problem.

Source: ABC News August 19, 2020 15:19 UTC