Doctors Insert Blood Clot Filter Into Biden
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WASHINGTON — Doctors inserted a tiny filter into one of Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s major veins to intercept any additional blood clots similar to one that lodged in a lung last week, a spokesman for Walter Reed Army Medical Center said Friday.
Spokesman Jim Steuve said Biden, a Delaware Democrat, was “in good condition, alert, happy and in no pain” after the surgery Thursday. He said Biden, 45, was eating well and could be expected to remain in the hospital several days.
A catheter was used to insert the device into the vena cava, a large vein in the abdomen that carries blood to the heart, Steuve said.
The purpose of the filter is to catch dislodged clots traveling in the bloodstream and keep them from damaging the brain, heart, lungs or other vital organs, he said.
The clot in Biden’s lung caused no damage and eventually will be absorbed into the bloodstream, Steuve said.
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