Pulmonary embolism

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is the third leading cardiovascular cause of death after heart attacks and stroke. PE is caused by blood clots in the pulmonary arteries. These are often caused by clots from the venous system, including thrombus from trauma, surgery or deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Treatment has traditionally been systemic use of thrombolytic drugs to dissolve the clot. But in cases there is a massive, life-threatening PE, or chronic clot burden that have remained in a vessel for an extended period of time, mechanical thrombectomy and ultrasound-assisted catheter-directed thrombolysis (USCDT) is being used as more targeted and aggressive treatments.

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Use of CTPA for suspected pulmonary embolism in pregnancy surges 156% at 2 hospitals

Despite the marked increase, there was no corresponding uptick in either positive PE readings or pregnancies, experts detailed. 

MRA for pulmonary embolus

MR angiography a suitable alternative to CT when ruling out pulmonary embolus

The modality switch became especially important during the iodinated contrast shortage of 2022 when clinics were forced to deploy mitigation tactics as a means of preserving their contrast supply. 

chest pain lung pulmonary embolism

How CT creates barrier to treating pulmonary embolism patients in cheaper outpatient settings

Rather than being discharged, low-risk PE patients often receive unnecessary additional services and overnight stays, experts wrote in JAMA.

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AI dramatically reduces radiologists’ rate of missed incidental pulmonary embolism on routine CT

The commercial software also reduced the median detection and notification time for incidental PE in flagged scans from “several days” down to just 1 hour.

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Why more pulmonary embolism patients should be considered for surgery

The topic was explored at length in a new scientific statement presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

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Catheter-directed thrombolysis boosts survival rates for submassive pulmonary embolism

The new meta-analysis included data from nearly 10,000 patients. 

Survival on the rise among high-risk pulmonary embolism patients

The study's authors examined data from more than 1.4 million patients, noting that pulmonary embolism response teams appear to be playing a significant role. 

Terry Bowers, MD, director of vascular medicine at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan, and national co-chair of the Pulmonary Embolism Research Collaborative (PERC), explains the skillset needed for pulmonary embolism (PE) thrombectomy procedures. #PERT #PE

VIDEO: What interventional cardiologists need to perform pulmonary embolism thrombectomy

There is a national trend where cardiology is increasingly being called in to help with PE response teams (PERT) at hospitals. Terry Bowers from Beaumont explains what skills interventional cardiologists need for PE procedures.