RISKS SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF A BLOOD CLOT IN THE LUNG A CLOT CAN TRAVEL FROM THE LEG OR PELVIS INTO THE LUNG A PULMONARY EMBOLISM

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A blood clot can travel from the leg into the lung. A blood clot in the lung can have symptoms like chest pain, coughing,trouble breathing, fast heart beat and so forth. You can have a pulmonary embolism, clot in lung, even without these symptoms or with others. Anyone who has even the slightest suspicion of a blood clot in the lung should call for immediate medical attention as 911. Better to be safe. With the recent update to warnings about risks of contraceptive patches as well as other risks for blood clots in general such as birth control pills,long periods of immobilization on airplane flights, recent surgery and so forth I thought it would be a good idea to review information about pulmonary embolism.











Risk factors for a pulmonary embolus, blood clot in the lung include:

Prolonged bed rest or inactivity (including long trips in planes, cars, or trains)

Fractures of the hips or femur, the upper leg bone

Surgery (especially pelvic surgery)

Childbirth

Massive trauma

Burns

Cancer

Stroke

Blood coagulation clotting chemical disorder

Birth control pill use and contraceptive patches




Blood clots in the lung are frequently related to a blood clot in the leg, a DVT, or pelvis. The clot, a thrombus, may travel from the original location into the lung.

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Former Governor of Minnesota and wrestler Jesse Ventura had a pulmonary embolism the night he was scheduled to wrestle Hulk Hogan. And David Bloom, the television correspondent was said to have had a blood clot as a result of prolonged time traveling in an armored vehicle while in Iraq. A pulmonary embolism is a blockage in an artery in the lungs caused by an embolus, a blood clot that has traveled from another place in the circulatory system such as a vein in a leg or in the pelvic area to the lungs to become a blood clot in the lung.

Account of Jesse Ventura's Pulmonary Embolism.


The Symptoms of a Pulmonary Embolism Blood Clot in the Lung Can Include:

shortness of breath

chest pain

fever

cough

fast breathing and/or fast heart beat

coughing up blood




How do They Test for Pulmonary Embolism and for a DVT Blood Clot

The Ventilation Perfusion Test (The VQ Scan) and the Spiral CT Scan

The two most prominent tests for a pulmonary embolism are the VQ Scan and Spiral CT. Oxygen is exchanged between the air and the blood in the lungs. Thus there is ventilation of the lungs and also perfusion in the lungs by the blood. If there is a blood clot blocking some part of the lung one would expect to see a mismatch where there is not an approptiate blood flow to an area of the lung because of the clot blocking the area.



The perfusion scan is performed by injecting a radioactive substance with a short half life into a vein. The patient´s lungs are scanned to detect the location of the radioactive material as blood flows through the lungs. The ventilation scan is performed by scanning the lungs while having the person inhale radioactive gas with a short half life.

The Spiral CT Scan

The Spiral CT Scan is a newer and more sophisticated relation of the old CT scanner. It has detectors that rotate rapidly in a spiral and can image an area much faster than the older CT, so fast that it can get the whole image while a person holds their breath. Original CT scanners would spin 360° in one direction and make an image , then spin 360° in the other direction to make another cross section. Between each image, the machine would stop completely and reverse directions while the patient table was moved forward incrementally. The spiral CT scanner rotates continuously and can scan entire anatomic regions in less than a minute.