An embolism is the lodging of an embolus, a blockage-causing piece of material, inside a blood vessel. The embolus may be a blood clot (thrombus), a fat globule, a bubble of air or other gas, or foreign material. An embolism can cause partial or total blockage of blood flow in the affected vessel. Such a blockage may affect a part of the body distant from the origin of the embolus. An embolism in which the embolus is a piece of thrombus is called a thromboembolism.
Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include shortness of breath, chest pain particularly upon breathing in, and coughing up blood. Symptoms of a blood clot in the leg may also be present, such as a red, warm, swollen, and painful leg. Signs of a PE include low blood oxygen levels, rapid breathing, rapid heart rate, and sometimes a mild fever. Severe cases can lead to passing out, abnormally low blood pressure, and sudden death.
An air embolism, also known as a gas embolism, is a blood vessel blockage caused by one or more bubbles of air or other gas in the circulatory system. Air embolisms may also occur in the xylem of vascular plants, especially when suffering from water stress. Air can be introduced into the circulation during surgical procedures, lung over-expansion injury, decompression, and a few other causes.
Decompression Illness (DCI) comprises two different conditions caused by rapid decompression of the body. These conditions present similar symptoms and require the same initial first aid. Scuba divers are trained to ascent slowly from depth to avoid DCI. Although the incidence is relatively rare, the consequences can be serious and potentially fatal, especially if untreated.
A pulmonary artery is an artery in the pulmonary circulation that carries deoxygenated blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs. The largest pulmonary artery is the main pulmonary artery or pulmonary trunk from the heart, and the smallest ones are the arterioles, which lead to the capillaries that surround the pulmonary alveoli.
D-dimer is a fibrin degradation product, a small protein fragment present in the blood after a blood clot is degraded by fibrinolysis. It is so named because it contains two D fragments of the fibrin protein joined by a cross-link.
In electrocardiography, the T wave represents the repolarization of the ventricles. The interval from the beginning of the QRS complex to the apex of the T wave is referred to as the absolute refractory period. The last half of the T wave is referred to as the relative refractory period or vulnerable period. The T wave contains more information than the QT interval. The T wave can be described by its symmetry, skewness, slope of ascending and descending limbs, amplitude and subintervals like the Tpeak–Tend interval.
Respiratory diseases, or lung diseases, are pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange difficult in air-breathing animals. They include conditions of the respiratory tract including the trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli, pleurae, pleural cavity, and the nerves and muscles of respiration. Respiratory diseases range from mild and self-limiting, such as the common cold, influenza, and pharyngitis to life-threatening diseases such as bacterial pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, tuberculosis, acute asthma, COVID-19, lung cancer, and severe acute respiratory syndromes.
In medicine, Homans' sign is considered by some physicians to be a sign of deep vein thrombosis (DVT). It was defined by John Homans in 1941 as discomfort behind the knee upon forced dorsiflexion of the foot. After many examples of false-positive Homans' signs were reported, Homans redefined it in 1944, stating that "discomfort need have no part in the reaction", and that increased resistance, involuntary flexure of the knee or pain in the calf upon forced dorsiflexion should be considered positive responses.
In chest radiography, the Westermark sign is a sign that represents a focus of oligemia (hypovolemia) seen distal to a pulmonary embolism (PE). While the chest x-ray is normal in the majority of PE cases, the Westermark sign is seen in 2% of patients.
A ventilation/perfusion lung scan, also called a V/Q lung scan, is a type of medical imaging using scintigraphy and medical isotopes to evaluate the circulation of air and blood within a patient's lungs, in order to determine the ventilation/perfusion ratio. The ventilation part of the test looks at the ability of air to reach all parts of the lungs, while the perfusion part evaluates how well blood circulates within the lungs. As Q in physiology is the letter used to describe bloodflow the term V/Q scan emerged.
An amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) is a very uncommon childbirth (obstetric) emergency in which amniotic fluid enters the blood stream of the mother to trigger a serious reaction. This reaction then results in cardiorespiratory collapse and massive bleeding (coagulopathy). The rate at which it occurs is 1 instance per 20,000 births and it comprises 10% of all maternal deaths.
Lines of Zahn are a characteristic of thrombi that appear particularly when formed in the heart or aorta. They have visible and microscopic alternating layers (laminations) of platelets mixed with fibrin, which appear lighter and darker layers of red blood cells. Their presence implies thrombosis at a site of rapid blood flow that happened before death. In veins or smaller arteries, where flow is not as constant, they are less apparent.
Lung infarction occurs when an artery to the lung becomes blocked and part of the lung dies. It is most often caused by pulmonary embolism.
CT pulmonary angiogram (CTPA) is a medical diagnostic test that employs computed tomography (CT) angiography to obtain an image of the pulmonary arteries. Its main use is to diagnose pulmonary embolism (PE). It is a preferred choice of imaging in the diagnosis of PE due to its minimally invasive nature for the patient, whose only requirement for the scan is an intravenous line.
Michael Humpal is a former American football linebacker. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He was part of the Steelers' victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII. He played college football at Iowa. As a second career after football, he graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic and currently practices as Michael J Humpal, DC in North Liberty, IA at Humpal Chiropractic.
Obstructive shock is a form of shock associated with physical obstruction of the great vessels or the heart itself. Pulmonary embolism and cardiac tamponade are considered forms of obstructive shock.
Embolectomy is the emergency surgical removal of emboli which are blocking blood circulation. It usually involves removal of thrombi, and is then referred to as thrombectomy. Embolectomy is an emergency procedure often as the last resort because permanent occlusion of a significant blood flow to an organ leads to necrosis. Other involved therapeutic options are anticoagulation and thrombolysis.
Peabody's sign is a clinical sign which may be found in patients with deep vein thrombosis (DVT). The sign is positive when calf muscle spasm occurs on raising the affected leg with the foot extended. The sign is neither sensitive nor specific for the presence of DVT.
Right heart strain is a medical finding of right ventricular dysfunction where the heart muscle of the right ventricle (RV) is deformed. Right heart strain can be caused by pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary embolism, RV infarction, chronic lung disease, pulmonic stenosis, bronchospasm, and pneumothorax.
