Echocardiographic and functional cardiopulmonary problems 6 months after first-time pulmonary embolism in previously healthy patients.

Aims: We hypothesized that first-time submassive pulmonary embolism (PE) can cause persistent, significant cardiopulmonary problems, including right ventricular damage and worsened quality of life in patients with no prior cardiopulmonary disease.

Methods And Results: We prospectively enrolled 205 patients without end-stage comorbidity diagnosed with submassive PE (systolic blood pressure always > 100 mmHg). Using explicit criteria, we identified a subgroup of 127 'previously healthy' patients who were free of cardiopulmonary disease or other disabling process.

Cardiac inflammation contributes to right ventricular dysfunction following experimental pulmonary embolism in rats.

Acute right ventricular (RV) failure following pulmonary embolism (PE) is a strong predictor of poor clinical outcome. Present studies test for an association between RV failure from experimental PE, inflammation, and upregulated chemokine expression. Additional experiments test if neutrophil influx contributes to RV dysfunction.