Nuvaring Lawyers

by Steve Fields on June 21st, 2010

One of more dangerous Nuvaring side effects is deep vein thrombosis (DVT). This is a formation of blood clots within the deep veins. The condition can affect blood vessels in your arms and pelvis, but is more common within the femoral and popliteal veins of your legs. Please contact us if you have developed a blood clot while using the birth control ring and one of our Nuvaring lawyers will help explain your legal rights.

Nuvaring problems involving a DVT are due to the hormones released into the bloodstream by the contraceptive ring. Studies have shown these hormones – estrogen and a progestin known as etonogestrel – are responsible for an increased risk of abnormal clotting. Once clots form within your legs, they can cause several serious health problems, including post-thrombotic syndrome, pulmonary embolism, and in rare cases, stroke.

How Post-Thrombotic Syndrome Occurs

Blood flows from your extremities to your heart in order to pick up oxygen. This movement is made possible by tiny one-way valves within the deep veins. These valves help blood move toward your heart while preventing pooling at the site. Clots that form within the veins can damage the valves and impair their function.

When the valves are damaged, they become incapable of regulating the flow of blood. Pooling results, which leads to further clotting and circulation issues. This is called post-thrombotic syndrome, a condition that not only causes pain and swelling, but is also progressive without treatment.

While PTS is a serious Nuvaring blood clot problem, a greater concern is the likelihood of a pulmonary embolism.

How DVT Leads To Pulmonary Embolism

The deep veins in your legs are buried among groups of muscles that contract whenever you move. These contractions play an essential role in pushing oxygen-poor blood toward your heart. With the presence of a DVT, they also pose a problem.

Deep veins in your lower body are connected to a large blood vessel called the inferior vena cava. This is the passage through which blood travels from your legs to your heart and lungs. The muscle contractions that propel blood from your legs can also jar existing blood clots loose from the venous wall. Once they become detached from the lining, they are free to migrate.

Clots that travel from your legs can pass through the inferior vena cava and enter the right side of your heart. As your heart pumps blood into the arteries of the lungs, these emboli may be carried along in the same direction. They can flow into the blood vessels supplying the lungs and eventually create an obstruction. This triggers a pulmonary embolism.

It’s worth noting that nine out of ten cases of PE are caused by blood clots that migrate from the leg veins. While death is rare, a massive PE caused by a large embolus can be fatal.

How DVT Leads To Stroke

Health care professionals – including doctors – often claim deep vein thrombosis will not cause a stroke. This is true in most circumstances. Blood flows from your legs to your heart’s right side, and into your lungs through the pulmonary arteries. Clots follow the same path. Oxygen-rich blood returns to your heart’s left side before being circulated to the rest of your body. But it does so through the pulmonary veins – not the arteries. Clots cannot take this path.

However, the claim that DVT does not cause a stroke obfuscates a few key details. First, if there is a hole in the septum – the wall separating the right and left sides of the heart – a clot can pass from the right to the left side. If it does, the clot may travel out of the heart and toward your brain.

Second, blood clots that lodge in the arteries of the lungs can cause pulmonary hypertension. This is a condition in which the blood pressure in your lungs rises. It can lead to atrial fibrillation (a type of arrhythmia), which in turn, can cause blood to pool in the left atrium. If clots form in this chamber, they can break away, migrating from your heart and to your brain.

Nuvaring side effects involving a DVT is a serious health problem that can lead to dangerous medical events. If you have suffered deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, or stroke after using this birth control ring, contact one of our Nuvaring lawyers. Find out whether you should file a Nuvaring lawsuit.