Cautionary Notes About Outpatient Treatment of Acute Pulmonary Embolism

[摘要] American health care providers quickly embraced outpatient treatment of acute DVT but hesitate to endorse a similar approach for the treatment of acute pulmonary embolism (PE). This apparent contradiction can be quickly reconciled. PE is a potentially fatal disease, whereas DVT cannot be lethal if the thrombus remains adherent to the vein and does not dislodge and embolize to the pulmonary arteries. Imagine the psychological agony of a physician who might implement outpatient PE treatment, only to learn that the patient suffered a fatal recurrent PE within several days of discharge from the ED.

[学科分类] 呼吸医学