Recent clinical studies have shed new light on the diagnosis of venous thromboembolism. Pulmonary embolism continues to be difficult to diagnose because the definitive test, pulmonary angiography, is complex and not widely available. However, new knowledge about ventilation perfusion lung scanning and non-invasive leg studies can help to reduce the need for pulmonary angiography. Furthermore, t...

Copyright © 2011 Massachusetts Medical Society. Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension is defined as mean pulmonary-artery pressure greater than 25 mm Hg that persists 6 months after pulmonary embolism is diagnosed. The 2008 World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension1 emphasized the importance of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, which occurs in 2 to 4% of patients after acut...

Pulmonary embolism due to hydatid cysts is a very rare clinical entity. Hydatid pulmonary embolism can be distinguished from other causes of pulmonary embolism with contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI especially displays the cystic nature of lesions better than CECT. Here we report a 45-year-old male patient with the pulmonary embolism due to r...

N E W O R L E A N S — The best predictors of in-hospital deterioration of patients diagnosed with acute pulmonary embolism in the emergency department are a shock index greater than 1 and a pulmonary embolism severity index score more than 100, according to data from the EMPEROR registry. The clinical implications: Calculate the pulmonary embolism severity index (PESI) and shock index routinely...

The management of patients with acute pulmonary embolism is made challenging by its wide spectrum of clinical presentation and outcome, which is mainly related to patient haemodynamic status and right ventricular overload. Mechanical embolic obstruction and neurohumorally mediated pulmonary vasoconstriction are responsible for right ventricular overload. The pathophysiology of acute pulmonary e...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Until recently, little was known about the long-term outcome of pulmonary embolism. Long-term mortality and recurrence rates, the case fatality rate of recurrent events, and the frequency of persistent vascular defects remained largely unknown. Improvements in our knowledge of these aspects may help to define the optimal long-term treatment of pulmonary embolism. This review w...

Pulmonary embolism is considered as a great masquerader due to its frequent nonspecific signs and symptoms. Typically pulmonary embolism is under-diagnosed or over-diagnosed. In this study a patient with pulmonary embolism is reported in which the patient exhibited two unusual manifestations namely; right upper quadrant abdominal pain and ST-T elevation in anterior precordial leads. Due to the ...

BACKGROUND Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension after pulmonary embolism is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Understanding the incidence of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension after pulmonary embolism is important for evaluating the need for screening but is also a subject of debate because of different inclusion criteria among previous studies. We determined the...

Hydatid cyst is a helminth infection. The rupture of a hepatic hydatid cyst in inferior vena cava is a rare and lethal complication. Pulmonary embolism is the commonest manifestation. The diagnosis of hydatid cyst is made by histopathological or serological examination, and imaging may suggest the probability of hydatid cyst. Surgical treatment should be performed with caution and always under ...

1 Lesser BA, Leeper KV Jr. Stein PD, Saltzman HA, Chen J, Thompson BT, et al The diagnosis ofacute pulmonary embolism in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Chest 1992; 102:17-22 2 Lippmann ML, Fein AM. Pulmonary embolism in the patient with COPD: a diagnostic dilemma. Chest 1981; 79:39-42 3 Goldberg SK, LipschutzJ, Fein AF, Lippmann ML. Hypercapnia complicating massive pulmona...