UMEM Educational Pearls

Title: Risk Factors for Pulmonary Embolism

Category: Vascular

Keywords: Pulmonary Embolism (PubMed Search)

Posted: 1/7/2008 by Rob Rogers, MD (Updated: 11/22/2024)
Click here to contact Rob Rogers, MD

Risk Factors for Pulmonary Embolism

Remember that as many as 20-25% of patients with proven VTE (DVT and PE) will not have identifiable risk factors at the the time you evaluate them.
6 hours of flight (or car ride) with the knees flexed at about 90 degrees is considered by many to be a risk factor.
Inflammatory bowel disease (Crohns and Ulcerative Colitis) are hypercoagulable disorders and have been linked to VTE.

Can you imagine one of our patients saying"Dr. Abaraham, I have what is known in the hematology community as a Factor 5 Leiden mutation"?