Pulmonary Embolism. What is it?
Pulmonary embolism. The word embolization in medicine means something that moves inside the body’s vessels and eventually wedges to one of these. Usually has a small size that either the thrombus or fat or any other small piece of tissue can not pass. Thus we have a stroke of blood clot (thrombus), fat, air, etc. These are called emboli . If the vessel is an artery, then the blood does not reach beyond the point of the embolus. Then there is no oxygen to the tissue and we have ischemia. A condition that if prolonged leads to necrosis of the non-blooded part. If it is a vein then blood can not be moved to the heart and swelling (edema) is created before the blockage. Traffic is interrupted.
Pulmonary Embolism. Causes
Sometimes for various reasons in the veins of the legs are created blood clots. This is related to prolonged immobility (eg fracture, stroke). It may even be due to local injury. Another reason is a tumor in the body that causes increased blood clotting. This may be due to hyperactivity in some hematologic disease. The thrombi created in the leg veins can detach and move. Through large veins they return to the heart and pass through the pulmonary vessels. There, due to their size, they remain. This is called acute pulmonary embolism.
Pulmonary Embolism. Causes.
It occurs with chest pain, shortness of breath, cough, hemoptysis, tachycardia, pressure drop. If the thrombus is large is called massive pulmonary embolism and can cause cardiac arrest and death. If small pulmonary embolisms occur in the long run, symptoms of pulmonary hypertension occur.
Pulmonary Embolism. Diagnoses
The diagnosis needs to be set immediately because the time loss is fatal. Precious time is lost when the doctor can not think of the diagnosis. Usually the pain and other symptoms are attributable to musculoskeletal causes. On “cooling”. Others suspect coronary artery disease and their electrocardiogram reassures them. If the doctor has valuable experience, he looks at specific parts of the cardiogram. Immediately proceeds to ultrasound-triplex of the heart. It focuses on pulmonary pressure and right heart function. The diagnosis is completed by special examinations carried out in a hospital environment such as special axonal pulmonary artery vasoconstriction.
Pulmonary Embolism. Treatment.
Treatment includes anticoagulants, oxygen delivery and continuous pulse and pressure monitoring. If pulmonary embolism is massive and the patient hemodynamically unstable needs special treatment. Thrombolysis occurs, that is, administration of a drug that dissolves the thrombi, or thrombectomy, i.e., a thrombus removal surgery. In any case, an Intensive Care Unit is required. Having encountered many such cases, I believe that in the office or home using portable ultrasound the diagnosis will be put immediately, without detrimental delays.
Cardiological problems, Panagiotopoulos Nikolaos