The Clinical Course of Pulmonary Embolism

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 326; no. 19; pp. 1240 - 1245
• Main Authors: Carson, Jeffrey L, Kelley, Mark A, Duff, Amy, Weg, John G, Fulkerson, William J, Palevsky, Harold I, Schwartz, J. Sanford, Thompson, B. Taylor, Popovich, John, Hobbins, Thomas E, Spera, Margaret A, Alavi, Abass, Terrin, Michael L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, MA Massachusetts Medical Society 07.05.1992
• Subjects: Adult; Anticoagulants - therapeutic use; Biological and medical sciences; Blood and lymphatic vessels; Blood clots; Cardiology. Vascular system; Cause of Death; Chronic Disease; Drug therapy; Embolisms; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Health risk assessment; Heart Failure - complications; Hospitalization; Humans; Lung Diseases - complications; Male; Medical imaging; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mortality; Neoplasms - complications; Physicians; Prospective Studies; Pulmonary arteries; Pulmonary Embolism - complications; Pulmonary Embolism - drug therapy; Pulmonary Embolism - mortality; Pulmonary embolisms; Recurrence; Teaching hospitals; Pulmonary embolism; Human; Vascular disease; Respiratory disease; Cardiovascular disease; Evolution; Diagnosis; Statistical study
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJM199205073261902

PULMONARY embolism is a potentially fatal disorder for which anticoagulation therapy improves the outcome. Untreated, clinically apparent pulmonary embolism has been associated with a 30 percent hospital mortality rate, whereas the mortality rate for treated patients has been reported to be in the range of 8 percent. 1 2 3 4 5 Reported rates of recurrence for correctly treated pulmonary embolism have ranged from 2 percent to 50 percent. 6 7 8 These data are derived from small trials, small series, or autopsy reports, most of which were collected over a decade ago. Interest in the natural history of pulmonary embolism has been rekindled by several recent developments. . . .