[Pulmonary thromboembolism: specifics of diagnosis in young age--case report].

Pulmonary thrombo-embolism (PTE) is responsible for a reasonable number of undiagnosed pleural effusions. It is considered that PTE causes pleural effusions more frequently than bronchogenic carcinoma although statistics bring it to less than 5% of diagnosed cases. This probably relies in an insufficient investigation of patients with pleural effusion as well as considering PTE a rare cause of disease. Our case reveals both a delay in the diagnosis as well as a genetic linkage for PTE.