Pulmonary Embolism can be defined as a blockage of an artery in the lungs, which is caused by fat , blood clot ,clumped tumor cells. This is also known as a lung blood clot , Tumor embolus, Embolus, Lung blood clot, Venous thrombo-embolism.

Causes of Pulmonary Embolism

The main cause of this disease is the blood clot in the veins( mainly in he legs and pelivis ) .The blood clot in the legs is called DVT(deep vein thrombosis). Some are clear up by itself , but in some cases it may be cause of death .

Signs and Symptoms

The main symptoms of pulmonary embolism is shortness of breath. Rapidly breathing may cause the chest pain .Dizziness, fainting, increased pulse rate are some other causes of pulmonary embolism .The patient may also have some chest pain or fever due to the lack of blood flow to the lungs that caused some pulmonary infraction (some lung tissue to die) .Your skin becomes blue (because of lack of oxygen) when the vessels of the lungs are blocked. General weakness, swelling in legs , shortness of breath are some symptoms of chronic pulmonary embolism.

Treatment for pulmonary embolism

the main goal of the treatment of this disease is to stop clotting and the development of pulmonary hypertension. The patient should be hospitalized immediately and given proper medicines, like heparin and warfarin. Oxygen is given to make a normal level of oxygen in the blood. For some patient it is very difficult to take drugs that prevent clots. Surgery is needed for this type of patient.Thrombolytic therapy is another procedure of treatment which is used in the severe cases .Some drugs are used to breakup the clots such as tissue plasminogen activator, urokinase, Streptokinase. These drugs are known as a thrombolytic drugs but it is not for pregnant women.


Prevention

1) Leg exercise
2) Elastic stockings
3) after injury, surgery and childbirth, do exercise
4) As soon as possible, start some movement after an operation