Pulmonary embolism or PE, is a partial or total occlusion of one of the pulmonary arteries or one of its branches by a deep vein thrombus, or blood clot from a vein that becomes dislodged and travels to the pulmonary arteries and slows or stops the blood flow the lungs resulting possibly in death.
The top left image shows a CT image of a PE in the right pulmonary artery. The slightly darker area the red arrows point to is the blood clot while the lighter area on either side is the contrast enhaced blood. A contrast dye is used which shows up bright on x-rays allows doctors to trace the flow of blood through the body and detect any occlusion or blockage of blood. The image on the right is a model drawing intended to give you a more clear idea of what takes place during a PE. The grey area would be blood, the black area is a blood clot, and the white area is a lack of blood which would lead to necrosis or death of tissues in that area.
Common symtoms include chest pain, shortness of breath and palpations, rapid breaths, rapid heart rate while the body starves for oxygen.
Treatment for a PE is some type of anticoagulant such as heparin and or warfarin. In more severe cases, tPA or tissue plasminogen activator may be used or surgery may be required to remove the embloism via pulmonary thromboectomy.
