Pulmonary Embolism

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of the pulmonary artery usually when a venous thrombus , becomes dislodged from its site of formation and embolizes to the arterial blood supply of one of the lungs. This process is termed thromboembolism.
Symptoms may include difficulty breathing, pain in the chest during breathing, and in more severe cases collapse, circulatory instability and sudden death. Treatment, usually, is with anticoagulant medication, such as heparin and warfarin, and rarely with thrombolysis or surgery. In other, rarer forms of pulmonary embolism, material other than a blood clot is responsible; this may include fat or bone , air, clumped tumor cells, and amniotic fluid (affecting mothers during childbirth).