Publication Date
4-1-2014
Journal
The Texas Heart Journal
DOI
10.14503/THIJ-12-2692
PMID
24808782
Publication Date(s)
April 2014
Language
English
PMCID
PMC4004495
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
4-1-2014
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-Print
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
Cesarean section, embolectomy/methods, pregnancy complications, cardiovascular/diagnosis/surgery, pregnancy outcome, pregnancy trimester, third, pulmonary embolism/complications/surgery, risk assessment, thrombosis/surgery, treatment outcome, ventricular dysfunction, right/etiology
Copyright
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Acute pulmonary embolism is a leading cause of death during pregnancy and delivery in the United States. We describe the case of a 25-year-old woman who presented in cardiogenic shock in week 38 of her first pregnancy. After the emergent cesarean delivery of a healthy male neonate, the mother underwent immediate surgical pulmonary embolectomy. We confirmed the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism intraoperatively by means of transesophageal echocardiography and removed large clots from the patient's pulmonary arteries. Mother and child were doing well, 27 months later. In addition to presenting our patient's case, we discuss the other relevant reports and the options for treating massive pulmonary embolism during pregnancy.