Since one of my favorite exams to do is a chest angio, I thought that for this blog I would talk about pulmonary emboli.
A pulmonary embolism occurs when a blood clot from somewhere in the body travels into the pulmonary arteries and causes a blockage. A person can have one or many PE's at the same time and most of the clots originate in the legs and travel upwards into the lungs.
Some symptoms of a pulmonary embolus include chest pain, shortness of breath, irregularly fast heartbeat, wheezing, and swelling of the legs among others. Some of the risk factors for the development of a pulmonary emobolus include recent surgery, lack of activity such as a person flying in an airplane or a person who is on bed rest, and history of a heart attack or stroke. Women who are pregnant or who have just given birth are also more susceptible to the development of a PE. Another possible sign of a pulmonary embolism is an elevated D-Dimer blood test.
The most widely used radiologic test for the diagnosis of a pulmonary embolism is at CTA of the chest or chest angio. A nuclear medicine lung scan can also be used if the patient is allergic to contrast or has lab work that makes a chest angio contraindicated.
While most pulmonary embolisms are not fatal they can lead to serious complications such as pulmonary hypertension and damage to the muscles of the heart when left untreated.
The most common treatment for a PE is a combination of the drugs heparin and warfarin. Even after the clot has gone away most patients will continue anticoagulant therapy for the rest of their lives in order to prevent development of another clot. Other treatments include clot dissolving medications or placement of an IVC filter which prevents clots from travelling from the legs to the lungs.
I found my information at mayoclinic.org and my picture from ajronline.org
