Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2023 Feb 21;15(2):e35273.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.35273. eCollection 2023 Feb.

Pulmonary Embolism Diagnosed During Endobronchial Ultrasound in a Patient With Major Trauma

Tetsuro Maeda  1 , Alexander Fe  1 , Sandhya Khurana  1 , Michael Nead  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Pulmonary Embolism Diagnosed During Endobronchial Ultrasound in a Patient With Major Trauma

Tetsuro Maeda et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a serious condition that often poses a diagnostic challenge. We report a case of a 57-year-old man with tobacco dependence who presented with multiple trauma, with chest imaging findings concerning for malignancy. While performing bronchoscopy with endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS), an echogenic material was incidentally found in the left pulmonary artery. Computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) was immediately obtained and confirmed the diagnosis of PE. This case illustrates the utility of routine pulmonary artery examination during EBUS procedures in patients at risk of PE and the importance of prompt management including confirmation with CTPA.

Keywords: computed tomography pulmonary angiography; endobronchial ultrasound; pulmonary artery; pulmonary embolism; trauma.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Chest CT showing right upper lobe multinodular patchy consolidation with mild cavitation and left upper lobe nodular consolidation (yellow arrows).
CT: computed tomography
Figure 2
Figure 2. EBUS showing a thrombus in the left pulmonary artery (yellow arrow).
EBUS: endobronchial ultrasound
Figure 3
Figure 3. CTPA showing a thrombus in the left main pulmonary artery extending into the left upper and lower lobar branches (yellow arrow).
CTPA: computed tomography pulmonary angiography
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. 2019 ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of acute pulmonary embolism developed in collaboration with the European Respiratory Society (ERS): the Task Force for the diagnosis and management of acute pulmonary embolism of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Konstantinides SV, Meyer G, Becattini C, et al. Eur Respir J. 2019;54:1901647. - PubMed
    1. Endobronchial ultrasound for detecting central pulmonary emboli: a pilot study. Aumiller J, Herth FJ, Krasnik M, Eberhardt R. Respiration. 2009;77:298–302. - PubMed
    1. Diagnosis of pulmonary thromboembolism with endobronchial ultrasound. Casoni GL, Gurioli C, Romagnoli M, Poletti V. Eur Respir J. 2008;32:1416–1417. - PubMed
    1. Pulmonary emboli detected by endobronchial ultrasound. Swartz MA, Gillespie CT. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2011;183:1569. - PubMed
    1. Endobronchial ultrasound images: bronchial artery and pulmonary emboli. Evison M, Crosbie PA, Booton R, Barber P. J Bronchology Interv Pulmonol. 2015;22:142–144. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources