Pulmonary Embolism : Complications
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Complications could include:
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Heart palpitations; Heart failure or shock; Severe breathing difficulty; Sudden death; Hemorrhage (usually a complication of thrombolytic or anticoagulation therapy; Pulmonary hypertension with recurrent pulmonary embolism.
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Pulmonary embolism is an obstruction of a blood vessel in the lungs, usually due to a blood clot, which blocks a coronary artery.
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An embolism is an obstruction in a blood vessel due to a blood clot or other foreign matter that gets stuck while traveling through the bloodstream. The plural of embolism is emboli.
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Cardiogenic shock is a disease state where the heart is damaged enough that it is unable to supply sufficient blood to the body.
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Cor pulmonale is failure of the right side of the heart caused by prolonged high blood pressure in the pulmonary artery and right ventricle of the heart.
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Cor pulmonale is an increase in bulk of the right ventricle of the heart, generally caused by chronic diseases or malfunction of the lungs. This condition can lead to heart failure .
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Heart failure, also called congestive heart failure, is a life-threatening condition in which the heart can no longer pump enough blood to the rest of the body.
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"Heart failure" is a broad term- often used inter-changeably with "congestive heart failure" (CHF)- to describe the heart's inability to consistently pump enough blood to the body's organs and tissues. Heart failure occurs either from a structural or a functional abnormality.
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Heart failure is a condition in which the heart has lost the ability to pump enough blood to the body ' s tissues. With too little blood being delivered, the organs and other tissues do not receive enough oxygen and nutrients to function properly.
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Palpitations are heartbeat sensations that feel like your heart is pounding or racing. You may simply have an unpleasant awareness of your own heartbeat, or may feel skipped or stopped beats. The heart's rhythm may be normal or abnormal. Palpitations can be felt in your chest, throat, or neck. See also: Arrhythmia
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A sensation in which a person is aware of an irregular, hard, or rapid heartbeat. Palpitations mean that the heart is not behaving normally.
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Pulmonary hypertension is a rare lung disorder characterized by increased pressure in the pulmonary artery. The pulmonary artery carries oxygen-poor blood from the lower chamber on the right side of the heart (right ventricle) to the lungs where it picks up oxygen.
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Respiratory failure is nearly any condition that affects breathing function or the lungs themselves and can result in failure of the lungs to function properly. The main tasks of the lungs and chest are to get oxygen from the air that is inhaled into the bloodstream, and, at the same to time, to eliminate carbon dioxide (C0 2 ) from the blood through air that is breathed out.
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Respiratory failure occurs when the lungs ' ability to either add oxygen to the bloodstream or remove carbon dioxide from it is impaired. Respiratory failure can have any one of several causes, such as lung disease or infection , electrolyte imbalance, interruption of the nerve signals that regulate breathing or nervous system damage, structural (rib cage) collapse, or airway obstruction.
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Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is an unexpected death due to heart problems, which occurs within one hour from the start of any cardiac-related symptoms. SCD is sometimes called cardiac arrest.
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