The first person known to have died of COVID-19 in the United States suffered a massive heart attack caused by the virus.
It's the first known case of COVID-19 in the world causing such a dramatic impact to the body's main organ.
Fifty-seven-year-old Patricia Dowd didn't just die from a heart attack. The Santa Clara County woman's heart literally ruptured when she passed away February 6.
"We've thought of the COVID illness as being primarily one of the lungs," Vanderbilt University Professor of Preventative Medicine Dr. William Schaffer told KCBS Radio.
Dr. Schaffer is also an advisor to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
He said the virus is known to damage other internal organs, including the kidneys. In Patricia Dowd's case, an autopsy obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle showed the virus also damaged her trachea and intestines.
"We're all learning more and more about what COVID can do to the human body, almost on a daily basis," Dr. Schaffer said. "This is another item, potential heart attacks, that now is something we have to look for in our COVID patients."
As of Sunday, Santa Clara County become the first county in the Bay Area to report 100 deaths from the outbreak.
