Resources Reference Desk Find an Expert. For You Patient Handouts. What is a pulmonary embolism PE? PE is a serious condition that can cause Permanent damage to the lungs Low oxygen levels in your blood Damage to other organs in your body from not getting enough oxygen PE can be life-threatening, especially if a clot is large, or if there are many clots. What causes a pulmonary embolism PE? Who is at risk for a pulmonary embolism PE?
Anyone can get a pulmonary embolism PE , but certain things can raise your risk of PE: Having surgery, especially joint replacement surgery Certain medical conditions, including Cancers Heart diseases Lung diseases A broken hip or leg bone or other trauma Hormone-based medicines, such as birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy Pregnancy and childbirth.
The risk is highest for about six weeks after childbirth. Not moving for long periods, such as being on bed rest, having a cast, or taking a long plane flight Age. Your risk increases as you get older, especially after age Family history and genetics.
Certain genetic changes that can increase your risk of blood clots and PE. Obesity What are the symptoms of a pulmonary embolism PE? How is a pulmonary embolism PE diagnosed? It can be difficult to diagnose PE. A smaller clot reduces the blood flow and may cause damage to lung tissue. But if the clot dissolves on its own, it may not cause any major problems. Symptoms of pulmonary embolism usually begin suddenly. Reduced blood flow to one or both lungs can cause shortness of breath and a rapid heart rate.
Inflammation of the tissue covering the lungs and chest wall pleura can cause sharp chest pain. Without treatment, pulmonary embolism is likely to come back.
Doctors will consider aggressive steps when they are treating a large, life-threatening pulmonary embolism. Blood clots that cause pulmonary embolism may dissolve on their own. But if you have had pulmonary embolism, you have an increased risk of a repeat episode if you do not receive treatment. If pulmonary embolism is diagnosed promptly, treatment with anticoagulant medicines may prevent new blood clots from forming.
The risk of having another pulmonary embolism caused by something other than blood clots varies. Substances that are reabsorbed into the body, such as air, fat, or amniotic fluid, usually do not increase the risk of having another episode. Cancer increases the risk of blood clots. Having multiple episodes of pulmonary embolism can severely reduce blood flow through the lungs and heart. Over time, this increases blood pressure in the lungs pulmonary hypertension , eventually leading to right-sided heart failure and possibly death.
Having a blood clot in the deep vein of your leg and having a previous pulmonary embolism are the two greatest risk factors for pulmonary embolism. For more information on risk factors for blood clots in the legs, see the topic Deep Vein Thrombosis. Many things increase your risk for a blood clot.
These include:. When blood does not circulate normally, clots are more likely to develop. Reduced circulation may result from:. Some people have blood that clots too easily or too quickly. People with this problem are more likely to form larger clots that can break loose and travel to the lungs.
Conditions that may cause increased clotting include:. Blood is more likely to clot in veins and arteries shortly after they are injured. Injury to a vein can be caused by:. Call or other emergency services immediately if you think you have symptoms of pulmonary embolism. Call your doctor immediately if you have symptoms of a blood clot in the leg, including:. Blood clots in the deep veins of the leg are the most common cause of pulmonary embolism.
For more information on these types of blood clots, see the topic Deep Vein Thrombosis. Your family doctor , general practitioner , or an emergency room doctor can diagnose pulmonary embolism.
Your doctor may refer you to a respirologist , cardiologist , or hematologist for further testing and treatment. Diagnosing pulmonary embolism is difficult, because there are many other medical conditions, such as a heart attack or an anxiety attack, that can cause similar symptoms.
Diagnosis depends on an accurate and thorough medical history and ruling out other conditions. Your doctor will need to know about your symptoms and risk factors for pulmonary embolism. This information, combined with a careful physical examination, will point to the initial tests that are best suited to diagnose a deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism.
Tests that are often done if you have shortness of breath or chest pain include:. After your doctor has determined that you have a pulmonary embolism, other tests can help guide treatment and suggest how well you will recover.
These tests may include:. Treatment of pulmonary embolism focuses on preventing future pulmonary embolism by using anticoagulant medicines. Anticoagulants prevent existing blood clots from growing larger and help prevent new ones from developing. If symptoms are severe and life-threatening, immediate and sometimes aggressive treatment is needed. Aggressive treatment may include thrombolytic medicines, which can dissolve a blood clot quickly but also increase the risk of severe bleeding.
Another option for life-threatening, large pulmonary embolism is to remove the clot. This is called an embolectomy. An embolectomy is done during a surgery or minimally invasive procedure. Some people may also benefit from having a vena cava filter inserted into the large central vein of the body. This filter can help prevent blood clots from reaching the lungs.
This filter might be used if you have problems taking an anticoagulant. Daily use of anticoagulant medicines may help prevent recurring pulmonary embolism by stopping new blood clots from forming and stopping existing clots from growing. The risk of forming another blood clot is highest in the weeks after the first episode of pulmonary embolism. This risk decreases over time. But the risk remains high for months and sometimes years, depending upon what caused the pulmonary embolism. Anticoagulant medicines also are often used for people who are not active due to illness or injury, or people who are having surgery on the legs, hips, belly, or brain.
Other preventive methods may also be used, such as:. Take steps to prevent blood clots from travel , such as walking around every hour. Because of long periods of inactivity, you are at higher risk for blood clots when you are travelling. If you are already at high risk for pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis, talk to your doctor before taking a long flight or car trip. Ask if you need to take any special precautions to prevent blood clots during travel.
Home treatment is not recommended for initial treatment for pulmonary embolism. But it is important for preventing more clots from developing and causing a deep vein thrombosis , which can lead to recurring pulmonary embolism.
Measures that reduce your risk for developing a deep vein thrombosis include the following:. For more information on how to prevent clots from developing, see the topic Deep Vein Thrombosis. Medicines can help prevent repeated episodes of pulmonary embolism by preventing new blood clots from forming or preventing existing clots from getting larger. Pulmonary embolism PE. Merck Manual Professional Version. Nonthrombotic pulmonary embolism.
Venous thromboembolism blood clots. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Di Nisio M, et al. Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. The Lancet. American College of Physicians. Evaluation of patients with suspected acute pulmonary embolism: Best practice advice from the Clinical Guidelines Committee of the American College of Physicians.
Annals of Internal Medicine. Pulmonary embolism adult. Mayo Clinic; Deep vein thrombosis or low-risk pulmonary embolism: Outpatient management. Kearon C, et al. Antithrombotic therapy for VTE disease. Pulmonary hypertension. This content was originally created for audio. Some elements such as tone, sound effects, and music can be hard to translate to text. As such, the following is a summary of the episode and has been edited for clarity.
For the full experience, we encourage you to subscribe and listen— it's more fun that way. One of the primary goals of the Who Cares About Men's Health podcast is to make our listeners aware of potential health threats they may face. For the most part, younger men don't face too many threats to their health, but there is one thing that will suddenly kill a young, healthy person: a pulmonary embolism.
A pulmonary embolism is a blood clot that typically starts in the deep veins in the legs or arms. This blood clot can break free and travel through the body towards the lungs. Once the clot reaches the lungs, the patient can experience extreme chest pain with a high chance of cardiac arrest. Up to one-third of patients with a pulmonary embolism PE will die of cardiac arrest before the dangerous clot is identified in a hospital or emergency department.
A big reason for the high mortality rate is that the symptoms of PE are typically non-specific until it progresses to an emergency situation. Patients have described their pulmonary embolisms as feeling like indigestion, a strange calf pain, or even unexplained shortness of breath over a week.
All symptoms that could understandably be confused for something more benign. More severe symptoms of PE may include: Sudden onset of breathing issues Chronic shortness of breath that appears overnight Pain or pressure in the chest Dizziness Fainting Temporary loss of consciousness Coughing up blood According to PE specialist Dr. Stacy Johnson, the problem with these clots is that the symptoms are not only non-specific, but they're also unpredictable.
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