BACKGROUND Helical computed tomography (CT) techniques for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism have been refined over the past decade. Helical CT is widely used in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism despite the lack of well-designed trials supporting this approach. Although helical CT correlates well with pulmonary angiography in detecting central emboli, critics argue that it misses more dist...

Pulmonary embolic disease is most commonly a manifestation of venous thromboembolism (VTE). However, fat, tumor, and air may all embolize to the pulmonary vasculature and lymphatics resulting in various clinical manifestations. Tumor emboli to small pulmonary vessels and lymphatics can lead to hypoxemic respiratory failure and shock. We present a 62-year-old male with history of mild COPD and e...

It is probable that small fibrin thrombi are constantly being formed in the venous system and become impacted in the lungs. The lungs of dogs are able to lyse several hundred millilitres of fresh blood clot injected into the venous system over a period of months and the animals' pulmonary arterial pressure remains normal (Marshall and Allison, 1962). Small emboli may, however, be composed of th...

The presence of intracavitary cardiac metastasis from squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix is extremely rare. The diagnosis is made almost exclusively postmortem. Apart from causing intracardiac obstruction, it can present as pulmonary emboli and the prognosis is extremely poor. It is important to suspect this diagnosis in patient with recurrent pulmonary emboli. Due to the rarity of t...

Ninety-eight patients admitted to our respiratory intensive care unit during a one-year period were compared retrospectively with 99 well-matched patients admitted during a second one-year period. The use of prophylactic low-dose heparin in the second year was associated with a significant decrease in pulmonary emboli documented by ventilation-perfusion scan, pulmonary angiography, and autopsy....

It has been stated that the interior of the right ventricle is as unique to each individual as one's fingerprint. This statement is backed by numerous publications which demonstrates considerable variation in the number, shape and configuration of papillary muscles inside the normal right ventricle.It has also been shown that these variants may be the cause of cardiac rhythm disorders.In this c...

In this case report we describe an unusual appearance seen on a ventilation-perfusion (V/Q) scan in a woman with pulmonary hypertension. Although the pulmonary hypertension was not caused by pulmonary emboli, the V/Q scan suggested several cardiac anomalies which may lead to pulmonary hypertension. Most of the cardiac anomalies, including right-sided aortic arch and right-to-left shunt, can be ...