Editorial
Emergency diagnosis of pulmonary embolism
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Acute
massive pulmonary embolism is an emergency requiring immediate
treatment. The right heart functional reserve is the major determinant
of acute survival. Because most of the deaths resulting from the
initial haemodynamic insult occur either immediately or within a few
hours, the relief of pulmonary vascular obstruction must be as fast as
possible. This can be achieved by thrombolytic treatment, perhaps
combined with mechanical fragmentation of the clot through catheter
techniques, or by embolectomy. All these measures have inherent risks
and must therefore be applied only in patients with unequivocal
evidence that the acute haemodynamic failure is caused by massive
pulmonary embolism. Morbidity and mortality of patients receiving
thrombolysis or embolectomy with an incorrect diagnosis will be very
high. In order to initiate aggressive treatment without delay, the
challenge is to diagnose this disorder promptly. The problems are
magnified by the fact that patients with massive pulmonary embolism are
often
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This article has been cited by other articles:
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Manganaro, A., Ando, G., Lembo, D., Sutera Sardo, L., Buda, D.
(2008). A Retrospective Analysis of Hospitalized Patients With Documented Deep-Venous Thrombosis and Their Risk of Pulmonary Embolism. ANGIOLOGY
59: 599-604
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