Miraculously saving the life of a nearly 100-year-old patient with pulmonary embolism
Having a pulmonary embolism after being tired from vaccination
The elderly patient with pulmonary embolism is a 98-year-old lady TLN. The patient has a history of hypertension and type 2 diabetes.
The family member said that after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine, the patient was tired, eating poorly, so he had to lie down on the spot. After that, the patient had severe shortness of breath, blood pressure fell deeply 60/30 mmHg.
The patient was admitted to the Cardiovascular Resuscitation Department (Military Central Hospital 108) and was diagnosed with cardiogenic shock due to bilateral pulmonary embolism and underwent emergency fibrinolysis.
Doctor Nguyen Thanh Huy visits the elderly patient with TLN after recovering, the patient’s condition improves and can be discharged. Photo of BVCC
Directly treating this case, Doctor Nguyen Thanh Huy (Department of Cardiovascular Resuscitation) said that after detecting bilateral pulmonary artery thrombosis, doctors decided to use acute fibrinolysis. assist.
“Although the patient is 98 years old and has a very high risk of bleeding, but before the progression of shock is severe, the clinical condition is noticeably worsening, we still have to prescribe it otherwise the patient will quickly die. .
It can be said that this is an extremely rare case because the world literature has not recorded any such elderly cases of pulmonary embolism.
After fibrinolysis to dissolve the thrombus, the patient gradually stabilized, blood pressure gradually increased, the vasopressor drugs were gradually removed, the respiratory condition improved, after 2-3 days the patient returned. state before entering the hospital and was discharged not long after,” said Doctor Huy.
Recently, the Department of Cardiovascular Resuscitation (Military Central Hospital 108) continuously receives and provides first aid for cases of cardiogenic shock, hypotension, cardiac arrest, etc. due to pulmonary embolism, according to Dr. Huy. with a variety of illnesses.
There are many elderly patients with pulmonary embolism. In addition to Mr. TLN, there is also a NTT (92 years old), infected with Covid-19 in the first week, and fell and broke his femur neck. The patient is undergoing hip replacement surgery when suddenly the blood pressure drops, the heart rate slows down, etc., which is also determined to be due to pulmonary embolism.
Her condition after being diagnosed and treated promptly improved every hour. She is now awake and able to function normally on her own.
What is pulmonary embolism?
Dr. Luu Quang Minh, Department of Cardiovascular Resuscitation (Military Central Hospital 108) shared, pulmonary embolism is the occlusion of at least one pulmonary artery or pulmonary artery branch, usually caused by a blood clot. also known as thrombus) moves up from the veins of the lower extremities.
Normally, the mechanism of blood clotting, forming thrombus is protective, helping our body to heal wounds, stop bleeding when bleeding… After completing this role, the body can self-dissolve the thrombus. continuously in the circulatory system.
A patient with pulmonary embolism is being actively treated at the Cardiovascular Resuscitation Department (Military Central Hospital 108). Photo of BVCC
However, in some elderly patients, having to lie down for a long time, inherited blood clotting disorders, pregnant women, people with cancer or recently patients with Covid … can all increase the risk. coagulation and the formation of migrating blood clots.
When the pulmonary artery is located, it is blocked, causing the patient to have acute respiratory failure, shock due to obstruction of the flow of blood from the right heart to the left heart; The patient dies quickly if not treated promptly.
Besides, smoking, obesity, use of oral contraceptives containing estrogen are also risk factors for pulmonary embolism.
Some other substances cause pulmonary embolism such as bone marrow fat after fracture, part of a tumor, air bubbles; However, mainly pulmonary embolism is due to deep vein thrombosis, so the guidelines link pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis together.
Sharing about pulmonary embolism, Dr. Dang Viet Duc – Deputy Head of Cardiovascular Resuscitation Department said: “Acute pulmonary embolism is a fairly common disease, the second leading cause of sudden cardiac death. When acute pulmonary embolism is severe, the risk of death can be as high as 60%, with the course often being very rapid in the first 1 to 2 hours.
80% of patients die in the hospital without an identifiable cause when autopsy is determined to be pulmonary embolism.
People at high risk for pulmonary embolism
“It can be said that this disease is not rare, but few people know about it. Not only the elderly and weak lying motionless or patients with brain stroke, surgery patients but also young people are also at risk for the disease. .
Especially women of childbearing age may be related to pregnancy problems, or patients with pre-existing venous thrombosis of the lower extremities.
The disease has many different manifestations. With severe degree can cause shock, drop in blood pressure, respiratory failure. Mild manifestations appear moderate dyspnea, not causing shock.
There are even silent patients who have no symptoms and are chronically undetected for a long time. Therefore, to prevent diseases, people should regularly go for health check-ups to avoid unpredictable consequences.”
Dr. Dang Viet Duc
at Blogtuan.info – Source: danviet.vn – Read the original article here
