Pulmonary Embolism

A pulmonary embolism is a sudden blockage in a lung artery. The cause is usually a blood clot in the leg called a deep vein thrombosis that breaks loose and travels through the bloodstream to the lung. Pulmonary embolism is a serious condition that can cause

Permanent damage to the affected lung
Low oxygen levels in your blood
Damage to other organs in your body from not getting enough oxygen

If a clot is large, or if there are many clots, pulmonary embolism can cause death.

Half the people who have pulmonary embolism have no symptoms. If you do have symptoms, they can include shortness of breath, chest pain or coughing up blood. Symptoms of a blood clot include warmth, swelling, pain, tenderness and redness of the leg. The goal of treatment is to break up clots and help keep other clots from forming.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Pulmonary Embolism on Wikipedia

A '''pulmonary embolism''' (thromboembolism) occurs when a thrombus, generally a vein thrombus, becomes dislodged from its site of formation and embolism to the pulmonary artery blood supply of one of the lungs. Symptoms may include dyspnea, pain during breathing, and more rarely circulatory instability and death. Treatment is with anticoagulant medication, such as warfarin.

Signs, symptoms and risk factors

Clinical presentation

Signs of PE are sudden-onset dyspnea (shortness of breath, 73%), tachypnea (rapid breathing, 70%), chest pain of "pleuritic" nature (worsened by breathing, 66%), cough (37%), hemoptysis (coughing up blood, 13%), and in severe cases, hypotension, shock, coma, and death. Although most cases have no clinical evidence of deep venous thrombosis in the legs, findings that indicate this may aid in the diagnosis. Electrocardiography (ECG) may occasionally (up to 20%) show right heart strain (the "S1Q3T3 pattern", the McGinn-White pattern).

Risk factors

The most common sources of embolism are pelvic vein thromboses or proximal leg deep venous thrombosis (DVTs). Any risk factor for DVT also increases the risk that the venous clot will dislodge and migrate to the lung circulation, which happens in up to 15% of all DVTs. Risk factors for DVT and PE (together "venous thromboembolism"/VTE) can be divided into ''genetic'', ''acquired'' and ''circumstantial'' causes. In many occasions, more than one risk factor is present: * ''Genetic'' ("thrombophilia") ** Factor V Leiden (3% of the population are heterozygous for FVL). ** Prothrombin mutation (G20210A). ** Protein C deficiency. ** Protein S deficiency. ** Antithrombin deficiency. ** High homocysteine levels due to MTHFR mutation. ** Plasminogen and fibrinolysis ... [ Read More ]

External Resources

Severe Pulmonary Embolism Associated with Air Travel - Article from the New England Journal of Medicine. [Free registration required to read full article]

Pulmonary Embolism - Article by Craig Feied, MD, detailing the background, diagnosis, and treatment of pulmonary embolism.

Diagnosis of Pulmonary Embolism - Canadian Medical Association journal article describing how these blood clots are diagnosed.

DVT.net - From Aventis Pharmaceuticals. Information on the causes, symptoms, and treatments of deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and stroke. Includes free membership area with health tips and tools.

eMedicine Health: Pulmonary Embolism - Provides information on the causes, symptoms, and treatment of pulmonary embolism.

DVT.org - Features their Best Practices: Preventing Deep Vein Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism manual in HTML and PDF formats plus information about the treatment of thrombosis.

Innohep - Tinzaparin sodium. Features product information as well as descriptions of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms.

Related Pages on HealthTales.com:

Pulmonary Fibrosis
Pulmonary Hypertension
Pulmonary arterial hypertension
COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)