Saddle pulmonary embolism (PE) is defined as the presence of a visible thromboembolus
that straddles the bifurcation of the main pulmonary artery. It occurs in about 2–5%
of all PE cases [
[1]
]. Visualization of saddle PE on a Computed Tomography (CT) scan causes alarm among
physicians due to the possibility of a large clot burden and impending hemodynamic
collapse. However, recent studies have challenged this reflexive assumption, along
with the assumption that clot burden predicts outcomes [
[2]
].Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to International Journal of CardiologyAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Saddle pulmonary embolism diagnosed by CT angiography: frequency, clinical features and outcome.Respir. Med. 2007; 101: 1537-1542
- Short-term mortality in acute pulmonary embolism: clot burden and signs of right heart dysfunction at CT pulmonary angiography.Radiology. 2012; 265: 283-293
- HCUP Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS). Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP).Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD2009–2011 (Available at: www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/nisoverview.jsp. Accessed June 15, 2014)
- Computerized tomographic finding of saddle pulmonary embolism is associated with high mortality in cancer patients.Intern. Med. J. 2010; 40: 293-299
- The impact of saddle embolism on the major adverse event rate of patients with non-high-risk pulmonary embolism.Br. J. Radiol. 2013; 86: 20130273https://doi.org/10.1259/bjr.20130273
Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 25, 2014
Accepted:
November 23,
2014
Received:
November 19,
2014
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
