Pulmonary Embolism | Doctor | Patient UK 

Pulmonary embolism is a medical emergency. It may present with very few clinical signs and/or symptoms, making it easy to miss, and a high index of... pulmonary embolism, pe., shortness of breath, dyspnoea, substernal chest pain, pleura, lungs, lung, chest disease, british thoracic society, chest pain, haemoptysis, cyanosis, emergency medicine, medical emergency, emergency, hypoxia, pleural effusion, pleuritic pain, tachycardia

Pulmonary Embolism 

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is an obstruction in part of the pulmonary arterial tree. The obstruction has usually travelled from a distant site, via the venous system. Pulmonary embolism is an important cause of dyspnoea, chest pain or collapse; it is a life-threatening condition which is easily missed.1 Most pulmonary emboli are thrombotic in nature. Other, rarer causes are: fat embolism, following long bone fracture or orthopaedic surgery; amniotic fluid emboli; and air embolism, following neck vein cannulation or bronchial trauma.1 The rest of this article deals with thrombotic pulmonary embolism. This is part of the disease entity venous thromboembolism (VTE), comprising deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). pulmonary embolism, pe., shortness of breath, dyspnoea, substernal chest pain, pleura, lung, chest disease, british thoracic society, chest pain, haemoptysis, cyanosis, emergency medicine, emergency, hypoxia, pleural effusion, pleuritic pain, tachycardia, thromboembolism, thrombotic disorder