scholarly journals Early Detection and Management of Massive Intraoperative Pulmonary Embolism in a Patient Undergoing Repair of a Traumatic Acetabular Fracture

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Tobechi E. Okoronkwo ◽  
XueWei Zhang ◽  
Jessica Dworet ◽  
Matthew Wecksell

A 73-year-old male with history of hyperlipidemia and osteoarthritis was transferred from an outside hospital after a fall from a ladder at home. He sustained a severe right sided acetabular fracture involving the femoral head, requiring operative repair. Preoperative evaluation was unremarkable except for oxygen saturation < 95 %. After induction of anesthesia and surgical positioning, the patient went into cardiac arrest. After intraoperative cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and placement on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), the patient stabilized. Cardiac catheterization revealed a large left pulmonary embolism. Here, we discuss the etiology and management of intraoperative pulmonary embolism.

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Sumit Sohal ◽  
Akhilesh Thakur ◽  
Aleena Zia ◽  
Mina Sous ◽  
Daniela Trelles

Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC) is a disorder of coagulation which is commonly seen as a complication of infections, traumas, obstetric diseases, and cancers especially hematological and rarely solid cancers. DIC may rarely be the presenting feature of an undiagnosed malignancy. It may present in the form of different phenotypes which makes its diagnosis difficult and leads to high mortality. The treatment comprises supportive, symptomatic treatment and removal of the underlying source. Here, we present a patient with history of being on warfarin for atrial fibrillation and other comorbidities who presented with elevated INR of 6.3 and increasing dyspnea on exertion. Over the course of her stay, her platelet counts started dropping with a concurrent decrease in fibrinogen levels. She eventually developed pulmonary embolism, followed by stroke and limb ischemia, which was indicative of the thrombotic phenotype of DIC. Her pleural fluid analysis showed huge burden of malignant cells in glandular pattern suggestive of adenocarcinoma and was started on heparin drip. However, the patient had cardiac arrest and expired on the same day of diagnosis.


2020 ◽  
pp. 102490792096413
Author(s):  
Su Yeong Pyo ◽  
Gwan Jin Park ◽  
Sang Chul Kim ◽  
Hoon Kim ◽  
Suk Woo Lee ◽  
...  

Introduction: Acute pulmonary embolism is a confirmed cause of up to 5% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and 5%–13% of unexplained cardiac arrest in patients. However, the true incidence may be much higher, as pulmonary embolism is often clinically underdiagnosed. Thrombolytic therapy is a recognized therapy for pulmonary embolism–associated cardiac arrest but is not routinely recommended during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Therefore, clinicians should attempt to identify patients with suspected pulmonary embolism. Many point-of care ultrasound protocols suggest diagnosis of pulmonary embolism for cardiac arrest patients. Case presentation: We describe two male patients (60 years and 66 years, respectively) who presented to the emergency department with cardiac arrest within a period of 1 week. With administration of point-of care ultrasound during the ongoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation in both patients, fibrinolytic therapy was initiated under suspicion of cardiac arrest caused by pulmonary embolism. Both patients had return of spontaneous circulation; however, only the second patient, who received fibrinolytic therapy relatively early, was discharged with a good outcome. In this report, we discussed how to diagnose and manage patients with cardiac arrest–associated pulmonary embolism with the help of point-of care ultrasound. We also discuss the different clinical outcomes of the two patients based on the experience of the clinicians and the timing of thrombolytic agent application. Conclusions: If acute pulmonary embolism is suspected in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, we recommend prompt point-of care ultrasound examination. Point-of care ultrasound may help identify patients with pulmonary embolism during cardiopulmonary resuscitation, leading to immediate treatment, although the clinical outcomes may vary.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hafiz B. Mahboob ◽  
Bruce W. Denney

Massive pulmonary embolism (PE) frequently leads to cardiac arrest (CA) which carries an extremely high mortality rate. Although available, randomized trials have not shown survival benefits from thrombolytic use. Thrombolytics however have been used successfully during resuscitation in clinical practice in multiple case reports and in retrospective studies. Recent resuscitation guidelines recommend using alteplase for PE related CA; however they do not offer a standardized treatment regimen. The most consistently applied approach is an intravenous bolus of 50 mg tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) early during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). There is no consensus on the subsequent dosing. We present a case in which two 50 mg boluses of t-PA were administered 20 minutes apart during CPR due to persistent hemodynamic compromise guided by bedside echocardiogram. The patient had an excellent outcome with normalization of cardiac function and no neurologic sequela. This case demonstrates the benefit of utilizing bedside echocardiography to guide administration of a second bolus of alteplase when there is persistent hemodynamic compromise despite achieving return of spontaneous circulation after the initial bolus, and there is evidence of persistent right ventricle dysfunction. Future trials are warranted to help establish guidelines for thrombolytic use in cardiac arrest to maximize safety and efficacy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
L Hobohm ◽  
I Sagoschen ◽  
T Gori ◽  
FP Schmidt ◽  
T Muenzel ◽  
...  

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Background Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a life-saving therapy for patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE) and concomitant cardiac arrest with the necessity of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Little is known about the use and clinical outcome of veno-arterial (VA)-ECMO and adjunctive treatment strategies in patients with acute PE and CPR. Purpose In this context, we aimed to investigate the use of VA-ECMO alone or after systemic thrombolysis and its impact on in-hospital outcomes of patients with acute PE and CPR. Methods We analyzed data on the characteristics, treatments and in-hospital outcomes for all patients with acute PE (ICD-code I26) and CPR in Germany between the years 2005 and 2018 (source: Research Data Center (RDC) of the Federal Statistical Office and the Statistical Offices of the federal states, DRG Statistics 2005-2018, own calculations). Results Between 2005 and 2018, 1,172,354 patients with acute PE (53.5% females) were included in this analysis; of those, 77,196 (6.5%) presented with cardiac arrest and CPR. While more than one fourth of those patients were treated with systemic thrombolysis alone (n = 20,839 patients; 27.0%), a minority received a combination of thrombolysis + VA-ECMO (n = 165; 0.2%) or singular approach with VA-ECMO treatment alone (n = 588; 0.8%). The overall in-hospital mortality rate of PE patients with cardiac arrest was high with 83.8%. Non-survivors were considerable older than survivors (74 [IQR 63-81] vs. 69 [58-77]). In patients treated with VA ECMO alone the mortality rate was 71.1% and 69.7% when patients received Thrombolysis + VA-ECMO. Patients, who received thrombolysis without VA-ECMO had a higher mortality rate (83.8%). In order to investigate the impact of those different treatment strategies, a multivariate logistic regression analysis (adjusted for age, sex and comorbidities) demonstrated the lowest risk for in-hospital death in patients, who underwent the combination of Thrombolysis + VA-ECMO (OR, 0.61 [95% CI, 0.43-0.86], P = 0.004) or VA-ECMO alone (OR, 0.70 [0.58-0.84], P &lt; 0.001) compared to patients without VA-ECMO and without thrombolysis. Use of thrombolysis alone in patients with PE and CPR lowering the risk regarding in-hospital death as well (OR, 0.95 [0.91-0.99], P = 0.013). Regarding temporal trends, the annual use of VA-ECMO increased from 0 in the year 2005 to the number of 138 in 2018 (ß 6.13 (4.62-6.76); p &lt; 0.001) as well as for the combined treatment Thrombolysis + VA-ECMO (from 0 to 39 [ß 4.28 (3.68-4.89); p &lt; 0.001]). Conclusion Patients with acute PE and CPR had a very high in-hospital mortality rate. Our data suggest, that VA-ECMO alone or after systemic thrombolysis should be considered as an option in this outstanding life-threatening situation to improve in-hospital outcome. Furthermore, our data highlight a marked increase in the number of PE patients treated with VA-ECMO indicating the structural health care progress between 2005 and 2018.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
H Shiota ◽  
E Kagawa ◽  
M Kato ◽  
N Oda ◽  
E Kunita ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction Paradoxical cerebral infarction is a mechanism of acute ischemic stroke; however, definitive images to diagnose paradoxical embolism are not often obtained. We report a case of paradoxical cerebral embolism complicated with cardiac arrest due to massive pulmonary embolism. Case report A 40-year-old man presented due to sudden-onset chest pain, and was admitted to our hospital. He was restless and had cold sweat; we could not measure blood pressure. Electrocardiography showed wide QRS complex with right bundle branch block, and T wave inversion in leads V1 and III. Transthoracic echocardiography showed diffuse severe left ventricular hypokinesis, with slightly better inferior wall motion compared to other segments. Few minutes after arriving, he experienced cardiac arrest; chest compression was initiated. He was transported to the catheter laboratory, and veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was initiated subsequently. To diagnose the cause of arrest, we performed coronary angiography, which revealed no occluded coronary artery. Pulmonary angiograms showed bilateral proximal pulmonary artery occlusion with massive thrombi (panel A). Surgical embolectomy was performed after cardiac team discussion. After ICU admission post-surgery, pericardial effusion was increased, and the blood drained continuously from the chest tube; a large amount of blood transfusion was required. Reopen chest haemostasis was utilised. After the second ICU admission, anisocoria was observed; subsequent computed tomography showed low density and midline shift in almost the entire left cerebral hemisphere (Panel B). Carotid duplex ultrasound revealed a large thrombus saddled at the left carotid artery bifurcation (Panel C and D). We rechecked the transthoracic echocardiogram at arrival to reveal the cause of the cerebral infarction, which showed the thrombus to be at the ascending aorta (Panel E). We thought that the thrombi had moved from the lower limb to the right atrium. The massive pulmonary embolism increased the pulmonary artery and right atrial pressure, resulting in the lower pressure of the left atrium compared to that of the right atrium. The thrombi passed through the patent foramen ovale into the left atrium, moved into the left ventricle, and embolised the left internal carotid artery (Panel F). He expired due to severe neurologic injury from brain herniation. Conclusion In this case, although the pulmonary embolism was massive and led to cardiac arrest, the deteriorated haemodynamics improved by extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation and surgical embolectomy. However, we could not rescue the patient because of the severe neurological injury due to paradoxical embolism. Paradoxical cerebral infarction in pulmonary embolism is rare; however, we should pay careful attention to early detection of paradoxical cerebral infarction in pulmonary embolism and treatment for return of the patient to the former lifestyle. Abstract P684 figure


Perfusion ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-165
Author(s):  
Guramrinder Singh Thind ◽  
Tarik Hanane ◽  
Alejandro Bribriesco ◽  
James Yun ◽  
Balaram Anandamurthy ◽  
...  

Introduction: A fulminant pulmonary embolism is a potentially reversible cause of cardiac arrest with a reported mortality rate of up to 95%. Therapeutic strategies for fulminant pulmonary embolism continue to evolve. Case report: We present a case of a 38-year-old female who suffered an in-hospital cardiac arrest due to fulminant pulmonary embolism. Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (facilitated by the LUCAS™ mechanical chest compression device) was successfully performed in this patient following failure of intraarrest thrombolysis. Discussion: For the management of fulminant pulmonary embolism, utilization of clot-directed therapies, especially intraarrest thrombolysis, has garnered increasing traction and interest. However, this therapeutic approach has its limitations. Fortuitously, the emergence of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation has added a new dimension to the treatment of fulminant pulmonary embolism. A protocolized approach to treatment can improve outcomes in these patients. Conclusion: Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation can be used as a salvage therapy in patients with fulminant pulmonary embolism in whom intraarrest thrombolysis has failed.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document