A pulmonary Embolism is a blood clot or a mass that blocks off the main artery that feeds blood to the lungs, known as the pulmonary artery. Most pulmonary emboli usually are from pieces or parts that originate in the deep veins of the lower extremities, but they can also rare occasion they can come from the pelvic, renal, upper extremity veins, or the right heart chamber. Once the clot has made it was way into the lungs, a large clot can lodge itself at the bifurcation of the pulmonary artery or the lobar branches, and cause blood flow to the cut off from the lungs. Having blood clots in deep veins (deep vein thrombosis) can lead to pulmonary embolism
Anything can make you be more likely to form blood clots increases your risk of pulmonary embolism. Some people are born with blood that clots too quickly. Other things can increase your risk include, being inactive for long periods. This can happen when you have to stay in bed after surgery or a serious illness, or when you sit for a long time on a flight or car trip. Surgery that involved the legs, hips, belly, or brain, or diseases such as cancer, heart failure, stroke, or a severe infection, pregnancy and childbirth (especially if you had a cesarean section), taking birth control pills or hormone …show more content…
It is fast, very accurate, and highly sensitive and specific. It can also give more information to the ordering physian about other lung field. Sadly there are many factors that can cause poor quality scan, motion artifact or poor contrast boluses can limit the quality of the exam,nation, improvements have been made to the CT technology have shortened acquisition times to less than a couple of seconds, providing relatively motion-free images in patients who are dyspneic. With the advent of mutlidecotre ct scanner have allowed the use of smaller volumes of iodinated contrast media, which reduces the risk of an acute kidney