Pulmonary embolism (PE) is occlusion of the pulmonary arterial circulation, most commonly by thrombus originating in the deep leg veins (deep vein thrombosis) that travels through the venous system and right heart to lodge in progressively smaller pulmonary arteries, though rarer embolic materials include amniotic fluid, fat, tumor, infected material, and sickle-cell-related emboli. PE shares risk factors with DVT, grouped into three categories per Virchow's triad-style framework: increased blood coagulability (e.g., pregnancy, hormonal therapy, malignancy, inflammation), vessel wall damage (e.g., surgery), and reduced blood flow (e.g., immobility); clinical presentation varies by embolus size and ranges from acute infarction (medium clots), to sudden cardiovascular collapse (large clots), to chronic progressive breathlessness and pulmonary hypertension (multiple small clots). This belongs to pulmonary/vascular medicine, linking thrombus origin, risk factor pathophysiology, and embolus size to distinct clinical syndromes.
Pulmonary embolism (PE) is occlusion of the pulmonary arterial circulation, most commonly by thrombus originating in the deep leg veins (deep vein thrombosis) that travels through the venous system a…