Updates and Future Directions
Michael Shashaty, MD, MS, FCCM
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
No relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose
Pulmonary embolism (PE) is an important cause of mortality. One-third of deaths are sudden, and 60% are undiagnosed before death. Recognition of PE can be challenging because symptoms and clinical signs may be nonspecific. Patients with massive PE and frank shock require urgent support. Patients with submassive PE present more of a dilemma. Patients with elevated cardiac troponin and/or right right ventricular strain on echocardiography are at higher risk of in-hospital mortality; most of them will improve with conservative therapy but some will not. Precisely how to treat these patients remains a clinical challenge. New interventional strategies with either catheter-directed therapy, mechanical fragmentation, thrombectomy, or a combination of these have been proposed, but firm data supporting a benefit in hard outcomes is currently lacking. A pro/con debate will contrast pharmacologic therapy with interventional strategies for PE.
Concurrent Session Faculty: Belinda Rivera-Lebron, MD, MS – University of Pittsburgh
Concurrent Session Faculty: Michael Shashaty, MD, MS, FCCM – Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania