Eagles Quarterback Jalen Hurts’s Blood Clotting Condition Explained

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was recently diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary emboli (PE) in both lungs-blood-clotting conditions that can lead to potentially fatal consequences.

Valerie Tutwiler, an associate professor in the School of Engineering Department of Biomedical Engineering, shares some insights based on her cutting-edge research - funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation - on blood clots and what causes them to break apart and become life-threatening.

Can you share more about your research?

The blood clotting process plays an essential role in both our daily lives and also in driving pathological conditions. When you get a cut, you want your blood to clot to prevent excessive bleeding. However, if a blood clot, or thrombus, forms when or where it isn't needed, it can result in life-threatening conditions such as heart attack, ischemic stroke, DVT and PE. Our work is geared at understanding how changes in the dynamic clotting process manifest in clinical outcomes and/or the stability of blood clots. We're particularly interested in delineating the mechanics of why some blood clots break apart, and others do not.

Why do some blood clots break apart?

This remains an understudied area. This is where we, as biomedical engineers, are uniquely positioned to address this question, especially since blood clots must withstand a multitude of dynamic forces, which make it critical to consider the mechanical nature of why and how blood clots break apart.

We're collaborating on cutting-edge research with researchers at UPenn and UMass, Lowell, that lets us measure how changes in clot architecture - such as those that would occur in people at risk for something like DVT - govern the resistance to embolization. Our experimental platform allows us to control and visualize the breakup of blood clots.

How does this research relate to Jalen Hurts's condition?

It's related in two key ways. First, we study how changes in blood mechanistically link to an elevated risk of blood clot formation or altered mechanics. Second, we work closely with a clinical team at Robert Wood Johnson to assess how traumatic injuries - including spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury - alter bleeding risk, thrombosis risk, and patient outcomes.

Does being a football player have anything to do with Jalen Hurts's condition?

DVT is often caused by blood clotting disorders, injury or inflammation that triggers vessel-wall damage, or slowed blood flow from bed rest or long travel. While playing football isn't an inherent risk factor for a DVT, injuries, surgeries, leg immobilization, and dehydration do all increase the risk of thrombotic conditions such as DVT.

Hurts is 28. Is that unusually young to be experiencing this?

While thrombotic complications are often associated with an age-related condition, there are many things that increase your risk irrespective of age. Our research aims to improve early diagnosis, treatment, and individualized risk stratification for thrombus formation, which may help aid in the treatment of the millions of people who face these issues annually.

Would this become a lifelong condition needing management for Hurts?

Management will depend on the root cause of the DVT, and his care providers are the only ones who can comment on these specifics, but we wish him a speedy recovery.