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.

Medical device startup exits stealth mode to name CEO, announce $21M in funding
Jupiter Endovascular, a new subsidiary of Neptune Medical, aims to "bring the precision and control of direct surgical access to catheter-based interventions.”
Pulmonary embolism treatments continue to evolve
There is still a lack of lack of standardized treatment protocols for pulmonary embolism. This is mainly due to limited data and a lack of reliable risk assessments, one specialist explained.
REAL-PE highlights disparities in pulmonary embolism care
Sahil Parikh, MD, director of endovascular services, New York-Presbyterian, explains details from the big-data REAL-PE study comparing mechanical thrombectomy to ultrasound assisted catheter thrombolysis.
A cardiologist's guide to treating pulmonary embolism
Interventional cardiologist Peter Monteleone, MD, discussed the primary tools used to treat pulmonary embolism in the cath lab.
Interventional cardiology sees growing role in pulmonary embolism interventions
Peter Monteleone, MD, national director of cardiovascular research at Ascension Health, explains the growing role of interventional cardiology in pulmonary embolism treatment and PERT teams.

Example of pulmonary embolism (PE) detection on CT and confirmed using spectral CT. Image courtesy of Philips Healthcare

Researchers 'concerned' CT angiography topped MRA in follow-ups for pulmonary embolism

A recent study found whether a patient received MR angiography (MRA) instead of CT angiography (CTA) for a pulmonary embolism (PE) had little effect on the rate of follow-up chest CT or MRI one year later.

May 1, 2018

American Airlines sued after passenger dies after in-flight pulmonary embolism

The family of a newlywed nurse is suing American Airlines after she fell ill on a flight and died. The cause of her death was determined to be an acute massive pulmonary embolism and cardiogenic shock.

April 27, 2018

Teaming Up to Treat Pulmonary Emboli: Clotbusters Illustrates Potential of Coordinated Response Programs

At one hospital, an aggressive treatment PE treatment program has dramatically reduced mortality.

August 2, 2016

Additional MR Techniques Improve Detection of Pulmonary Embolism

According a study published in the March issue of the journal Radiology, radiologists now have a comparable, non-ionizing option to CT for the detection of pulmonary embolism.

March 19, 2012

Pulmonary embolism

Medical device startup exits stealth mode to name CEO, announce $21M in funding

Pulmonary embolism treatments continue to evolve

REAL-PE highlights disparities in pulmonary embolism care

A cardiologist's guide to treating pulmonary embolism

Interventional cardiology sees growing role in pulmonary embolism interventions