Pulmonary embolism overview

Associate Editors-in-Chief: Ujjwal Rastogi, MBBS [mailto:urastogi@perfuse.org]

Overview
Pulmonary embolism (PE) has been probably the most misdiagnosed life-threatening disease in cardiology. It occurs when there is an acute obstruction of the pulmonary artery (or one of its branches).

The obstruction can be caused by thrombus, air, tumor, or fat. Most often this is due to a venous thrombus (blood clot from a vein), which has been dislodged from its site of formation, and embolize to the arterial blood supply of one of the lungs. This process is termed thromboembolism. In other, rarer forms of pulmonary embolism, material other than a blood clot is responsible; this may include PE is a potentially lethal condition. Patient can present with a wide array of symptoms and signs. which include difficulty breathing, pain in the chest during breathing, and in more severe cases collapse, circulatory instability and sudden death.
 * Fat
 * Bone (usually in association with significant trauma)
 * Air (often when diving)
 * Clumped tumor cells
 * Amniotic fluid (affecting mothers during childbirth).

PE treatment requires rapid and accurate risk stratification before haemodynamic decompensation and the development of cardiogenic shock. Therapeutic application most often consists of an anticoagulant medication, such as heparin and warfarin, and rarely (in severe cases) with thrombolysis or surgery.

Median hospital stay was of 3 days and the mean total hospitalization cost was found to be $8,764 in a retrospective study.