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Subscribe to RSSThe Secretary of State has been undergoing treatment for a blood clot just below her ear that was reportedly caused by the concussion she suffered in mid-December. She is expected to make a complete recovery. NBC News chief science correspondent Robert Bazell reports.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton remained hospitalized Tuesday for a blood clot in her head, but her doctors say she has no brain damage and is expected to recover completely.
Clinton, who fainted and suffered a concussion earlier this month, is being treated with blood thinners to help shrink the clot, which is in one of the veins between the brain and her skull.
"In the course of a routine follow-up MRI on Sunday, the scan revealed that a right transverse sinus venous thrombosis had formed,” Dr. Lisa Bardack of Mt. Kisco Medical Group in New York and Dr. Gigi El-Bayoumi of George Washington University said in a joint statement.
“This is a clot in the vein that is situated in the space between the brain and the skull behind the right ear. It did not result in a stroke, or neurological damage. To help dissolve this clot, her medical team began treating the secretary with blood thinners. She will be released once the medication dose has been established.”
Sec. of State Hillary Clinton was supposed to return to work later this week until doctors discovered a blood clot had formed in a vein between her brain and skull. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
The statement helps answer questions about Clinton’s condition, outside experts said. “This is different than a lot of assumptions that people made, which is that it was a deep vein thrombosis in her leg,” said Dr. Alex Valadka, a spokesman for the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and a practicing neurologist in Austin, Texas.
The statement from Clinton’s doctors suggested she would recover fully.
“In all other aspects of her recovery, the Secretary is making excellent progress and we are confident she will make a full recovery. She is in good spirits, engaging with her doctors, her family, and her staff,” they said.
Valadka said such a clot can be very dangerous.
“This could potentially be very serious because so much blood goes through your brain,” Valadka told NBC news. “If you block one of the major draining pathways, you can get a stroke.”
Valadka said standard treatment would be to infuse a bloodthinner such as heparin right away, and to then put a patient onto blood thinner pills for a fews weeks or months.
“The interesting question is how is this related to her concussion, if at all?” Valadka asked.
Clinton, 65, is known for hitting the road hard and she’s logged close to a million miles in travel, having visited 112 countries while in office. She had planned to step down in 2013 and was widely considered a potential front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president, if she chose to run again in 2016.
The extensive travel and dehydration could predispose someone to such a blood clot, Valadka said.
“These dural venous sinus thromboses, they can happen spontaneously on their own without any trauma, without any blow to the head,” Valadka said. “Is it just a coincidence?”
But a blow to the back of the head could have damaged the vein, causing the clot, he added.
Dr. Jack Ansell of the New York University School of Medicine agreed.
“This condition is certainly not common but it’s not rare, either, and certain patients are prone to it,” Ansell said. “They include those who have head trauma, as she did, and people who have other underlying tendencies to have blood clots. It’s a serious problem but it is certainly one that is eminently treatable. I would expect her get better.”
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
Hillary Clinton's life has taken her from first lady to senator to secretary of state.
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I can send her out prayers. I just COULD NEVER VOTE FOR HER!!
Any excuse to keep from testifying, eh Hillary?
FLASH**** Doctors find no brain. But they did find a brown stinky substance that she was full of!
"FLASH**** Doctors find no brain."
I knew it was all in her head.
Good thing the clot was not in the brain, but why would it be, that area is pretty desolate. Now.....what about Benghazi?
I think that she is doing some dural venous sinus lying to keep from testifying. And to think that she may run for President in 2016! Disgusting1
LOL, and I'll bet the doctor will tell the public this so-called blood clot will have a driect affect on her MEMORY, so of course Benghazi will not be remembered, don't believe me, ask Vince Foster, oh, that's right, he's dead.
Illness often is a result of stress, and God only knows how much stress Benghazi has caused Hillary.
Slick Willie is consoling himself with a chubby intern and a box of cigars.
How can she sleep knowing she is responsible for the deaths of four Americans?
How does Condi Rice sleep after using false, faulty intelligence talking points testifying in front of congressional hearings and on talk shows promoting the "mushroom" cloud and how the boogeyman was going to bomb us with WMD. I can't believe all the republicans that are bashing Clinton right now, when they still hold Condi Rice with reverence and respect. She was a talking head from homeland security, got nominated and confirmed without a peep of protest for doing the same thing that Susan Rice did...used talking points directly from the intelligence community. Condi Rice was/is not being vilified, called stupid, ignorant, incompetent, or wished dead, double standard anyone. Condi Rices's flawed, faulty intelligence talking points led to many more deaths that Susan Rice/Clinton's did., Where is your outrage for Condi Rice and Colin Powell??
The biggest flaw of Susan Rice was that she was appointed Odumba, which makes her stupid by association.
This could go a long way explaining why so many bad decisions were made that resulted in the death of 4 people. Just need to make sure she is not given the opportunity to make any more bad decisions.
There has been a lot of diving in this country since Obama has come along..never seen this much division ever. I'm not a fan of Hillary - she's a crook and has always been a crook - it's been proven, she's been busted, and she's still in a political office. In the private sector she would be doing time and banned from the industry and stripped of any license required for life. As a human, I wish her well, if this is actually true. Hard to beleive anything mainstream propaganda feeds us - they have been bought and paid for for the White House and politicians..mainly Democrats.
I did see extreme hate come from the liberals when Bush Sr, was in the ICU. Probably more evil and hateful than these comments. I was never a fan of either Bush. I saw much more hate come from the left..in vivid detail of malice and torture. I guess the sword cuts both ways in a country divided. I guess to the lefties - don't dish it if you can't take it. This is our new dived America aka: United Nations..the Libs will do whatever they want at the sacrafice of American citizens lifestyle, opportunities and dreams for "leagal" US citizens..Time to export illegals and close the doors until we have a surplus of jobs -not uneducated -no english speaking illegal voters for the cause. We need to bring America back. We are not Unicef and it's not our responsibility to care for the over-breeding countries problems. This should be something we should all be able to agree upon.
Wasn't Obama supposed to be the great uniter? Must be all the Reverend Wright b*ll@!$%# he tried to divorce himself from.
Somewhere, Vince Foster is smiling over Hillary's "problems".
Yeah, Obamanuts has got Al-Qaida on the run............................FLASH................
Al-Qaida in Yemen offers bounty on US ambassador
What a shame; blood clot in head. Something has to fill that vacuum!!
If she just swallowed semen, she wouldn't have a blood clot..
Wilman, Now how exactly is a Old Lesbian like Hillary supposed to do that? Oy Vey!
So thats whats wrong with liberals, its not their fault they have a clot in their head lol
Do you people really believe that she passed out and fell? Ask about a plane that crashed in Iran, ask who was on that plane, ask about a military man that dies in that crash and they said he killed himself. Ask questions people they are lying to you LOL
Probably from LYING all of her life? I hope some how some way this Tired Old Sea Hag does get to run in 2016 because I have been waiting for ages to vote AGAINST her!!!!
I have been reading these post. And like jeb42643 You guys are a bunch of azz holes. Your brain are where you sit if you even have any. I dont believe the nasty comments about people shame shame shame on you. you need to kneel down and pray to God and ask Him to forgive you. No wonder the world is full of so many wicked people and you are one of them. Is this what you teach your children, no wonder so many young people are going crazy. If you dont like it here then get the HELL Out.
Hillary get well soon and God bless all you idiots out there you need it
You obviously didn't read the posts about president Bush last week.
We do kneel down & pray too GOD! every night that this Old Lesbian never ever becomes President!!! AMEN!
Clinton has had a very successful stint at State. If you look at the death rate of State employees on foreign soil, she perhaps is the most successful Secretary of State in the last 20 or so years. She currently has an approval rating North of 60%. I lean to the idea that Hillary represents to Republicans an unbeatable Presidential candidate in 2016. They are just getting in their snide, dishonest conspiracy theories early.
I seriously doubt the Big Old Lesbian will last till 2016 SHAME!!!!
So you would vote for a person who looks the other way while her husband makes moves on every woman he meets. It's the same as her looking the other way when her people are looking for protection in a foreign country.
I have never been a big fan of Hillary, but she has worked her "butt" off these last 4 years and I admire her for that. Best wishes for a full recovery!!!! God Bless You!!!
I picked it, now Hillary will say she lost her memory and cannot testify. If this happens the White House is dirty on this Benghazi issue and cannot let Hillary testify or Inpeachment will come.
King Obama most likely has already threatened to get the NEW Black Panthers after her if she doesn't keep her mouth shut???
I cannot comprehend why people even think that either Hillary or Obama would even know about Benghazi. Obama has millions of employees reporting up to him, and Hillary has tens of thousands. There were 4 people at that State outpost. From my experience in very large corporations the issue would have been "handled" well before the CEO or Senior Vice President (Clinton) was informed.
Sure, the leaders are never responsible... That's why we vote for them, so they can always make up excuses.
"I cannot comprehend why people even think that either Hillary or Obama would even know about Benghazi."
Did you miss the part where Odumba was following the incident live?
Clinton at least should have known about the security issues in Benghazi, as Lybia is one of the Middle East's hot spots.
It seems that your head is constipated. You know that means?...Your head is full of crap.
Hillary has a head?....is there a brain in it?
I reckon so! Because Allen B. above says that it is full of crap!!!!
Recent news reports indicate "no signs of nuerological damage." This is very plausable as other recent news reports indicate that Clinton does not possess a brain.
Given that she was always viewed as the smartest person in the room, your comment has no rational basis what so ever.
If she was so smart, she would have married someone better than Billy Bob from the trailer park.
Thank You Wilman!!! Those two are about as sickening as it gets like fer real thar!!!