In the absence of significant symptoms and signs the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism remains difficult. Sensitivity and specificity of laboratory tests, chest x-ray, ECG, echocardiography and venous studies on their own is low. Ventilation-perfusion scanning establishes or excludes the diagnosis only in those patients with "high-probability" or "normal" scanning results. The diagnosis of pulmon...

BACKGROUND The use of thrombolytic agents in the treatment of hemodynamically stable patients with acute submassive pulmonary embolism (PTE) remains controversial. We, therefore, conducted this study to compare the effect of thrombolytic plus anticoagulation versus anticoagulation alone on early death and adverse outcome following submassive PTE. METHODS We conducted a study of patients with ...

RATIONALE Pulmonary embolism-induced cardiac arrest should not be given up arbitrarily, knowing that the etiology of pulmonary embolism is reversible in most cases. PATIENT CONCERNS We present a case of continuous resuscitation lasting approximately 4 hours, during which 21 episodes of cardiac arrest occurred in a 46-year-old man who sustained high-level paraplegia after a road traffic accide...

BACKGROUND Randomized trials and meta-analyses have reached conflicting conclusions regarding the risk benefit ratio of thrombolytic therapy or anticoagulant therapy in patients with moderate pulmonary embolism. To investigate the effect of initial thrombolysis and anticoagulant therapy in patients with moderate pulmonary embolism, we performed an updated meta-analysis. METHODS We searched th...

Thrombolytic therapy accelerates the dissolution of acute pulmonary embolism and is potentially lifesaving. The goal of this article is to offer a critical analysis of the use of thrombolytic therapy in this setting. Guidelines have been written and modified and new ones have been published over the past several years. Although an evidence base exists, unanswered questions remain. Despite the p...

Pulmonary edema is rare in patients with pulmonary embolism and to our knowledge has not been described in association with thrombolytic therapy. We describe a patient with massive pulmonary embolism in whom the adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) developed shortly after a course of streptokinase therapy. The possible association between streptokinase therapy or pulmonary embolism and AR...

The risk of venous thromboembolic complications among pregnant women and puerperas is higher than in the general population, which due to traditional factors, as well physiological anatomical changes that occur during pregnancy. Symptoms signs pregnancy are often nonspecific may coincide with consequences changes, including dyspnea, limb edema, tachycardia. D-dimer levels be elevated ongoing pr...