Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a critical condition where one or more of the arteries within the lungs become occluded by a blood clot. Quick diagnosis and treatment is crucial to keep mortality rates low. It is common for PE’s to originate from lower limb deep venous thrombosis (DVT). In other words:
Pulmonary embolism continues to cause at least 60,000 deaths per year in the United States according to CDC statistics. Ten percent of symptomatic pulmonary emboli are fatal within one hour of symptoms onset. However, diagnosis can often be difficult because the presenting signs and symptoms are nonspecific and often mimic other cardiac and pulmonary diseases. Interventional strategies to remove or dissolve thrombi continue to improve. With these improvements, our ability to understand and diagnose also needs to improve. Echocardiography can aid in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism and provides important functional information about the right and left ventricle that cannot be ascertained from other tests.
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