A Covid-infected woman had three fingers amputated after the disease ravaged her blood vessels.
Gruesome pictures published in a medical journal showed how the unidentified 86-year-old’s digits turned black.
Doctors in Italy, who had to cut off her gangrenous fingers, called her case a ‘severe manifestation’ of coronavirus.
Covid has been found in many patients to cause severe damage to blood vessels, causing dangerous blockages known as blood clots.
While experts are unsure why the virus causes the blockages, the prevailing theory is that it is the result of an immune overreaction called a ‘cytokine storm’, which sees the body attack healthy tissue.
It is believed the Italian patient had suffered blood clots which cut off supply to her fingers.
When the immune response goes into overdrive, it can damage healthy tissue. if blood vessels are affected they can leak, causing blood pressure to drop and driving up the chance of clots forming.