Blood Clots Hospitalize Mahony

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony was admitted to Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank on Sunday evening for treatment of a pulmonary embolism--blood clots in his lung.

His physician, Dr. Lee Parsons, said Mahony was in good condition and resting comfortably Monday. Though he may be in the hospital for as many as 10 days, he is expected to make a complete recovery.

Tod Tamberg, archdiocese spokesman, said the cardinal was working from his room.

‘“One of the first things he asked for was his computer,� Tamberg said.

Experts speculated that the clots could have been caused by Mahony’s flights to Rome and back last week for the two-day conference of cardinals on pedophilia.

Prolonged sitting on such flights occasionally causes the formation of blood clots, or emboli, in the legs. These clots can then break loose and lodge elsewhere in the body, producing lung damage, heart attacks and strokes.

This condition is often called “economy-class syndrome,� but it can affect passengers and pilots anywhere on a plane. At least 2,000 Americans each year die from such blood clots after a flight, but experts said that the vast majority go undiagnosed and that as many as 1million people worldwide die from them yearly. Former Vice President Dan Quayle suffered a pulmonary embolism in 1994 after an overseas flight, but was successfully treated.

The clots do damage by blocking the flow of blood to the affected organ. In the lungs, that means a patient’s blood is not completely oxygenated, causing breathing difficulties and chest pains.

Although pulmonary emboli cause as many as 650,000 deaths in the United States annually, said Dr. Craig Feied of George Washington University, the vast majority of those occur in the first hour after symptoms begin or in patients in which the disorder is never diagnosed. Once a patient is diagnosed and hospitalized for treatment, deaths are rare.

Treatment includes bed rest and the use of clot-busting enzymes to destroy the initial clot and blood thinners to prevent the formation of more clots.

Mahony was successfully treated in 1998 for a blood clot in his right lung that he developed after prostate surgery. Such clots are common among hospitalized patients and after surgery.