Abstract
Acute pulmonary embolism carries a high mortality. The role of echocardiography is to provide a rapid and accurate diagnosis: successful imaging of the mass in the pulmonary arterial tree has been extensively described. Echocardiography also reveals the source of the embolism if it is contained within the right side of the heart. Direct sources of embolism include thrombus, tumors, and valve vegetations in endocarditis. The localization may be difficult, and standard views of the right ventricle and pulmonary artery must be examined with care. Supportive features of pulmonary embolism are those of right ventricular overload and failure: right ventricular dilation, tricuspid valve regurgitation, and paradoxical septal motion.
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Further Reading
Goldhaber SZ (2002) Echocardiography in the management of pulmonary embolism. Ann Intern Med 136:691–700
Leibowitz D (2001) Role of echocardiography in the diagnosis and treatment of acute pulmonary thromboembolism. J Am Soc Echocardiogr 14:921–926
Mookadam F et al (2010) Critical appraisal on the echocardiography in the management of acute pulmonary embolism. Cardiol Rev 18(1):29–37
Torbicki A et al (2003) Right heart thrombi in pulmonary embolism: results from the international cooperative pulmonary embolism registry. J Am Coll Cardiol 41:2245–2251
Torbicki A, Perrier A, Konstantinides S, Agnelli G, Galiè N, Pruszczyk P et al (2008) Guidelines on the diagnosis and management of acute pulmonary embolism. The Task Force for the Diagnosis and Management of Acute Pulmonary Embolism of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Eur Heart J 29:2276–2315
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Locatelli, A., Avallato, C., Nicoletti, I. (2013). Suspicion of Pulmonary Embolism. In: Sarti, A., Lorini, F. (eds) Echocardiography for Intensivists. Springer, Milano. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-2583-7_31
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-2583-7_31
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