Unrecognized Emboli to the Lungs with Subsequent Cor Pulmonale

Abstract

IN recent years interest in pulmonary embolization has centered largely about preventive measures, with emphasis on leg-vein ligation and anticoagulant therapy.1 , 2 The principal cause for concern has been the acute syndrome of pulmonary infarction with its all too familiar picture of chest pain, hemoptysis and sometimes sudden death. It is well known, however, that pulmonary emboli may occur without clinical recognition,3 4 5 and the incidental post-mortem finding of organized emboli involving scattered vessels is not uncommon.There is a special group of patients, however, in whom the emboli are so extensive that they ultimately result in serious obstruction to the flow . . .