Pulmonary Embolism With Underlying Family History Presenting as Syncope: A Case Report

Abstract

An artery blockage by a foreign body, such as a blood clot/fat/air/cholesterol/amniotic fluid, is called an embolism. The most serious conditions caused by an embolism are stroke and pulmonary embolism. Pulmonary embolism (PE) occurs when a foreign body blocks the vessel that carries blood from the heart to the lungs. Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) has the potential to embolize and travel through the right side of the heart and become lodged in the blood-supplying artery of the lungs: the pulmonary artery. DVT is one of the major causes of pulmonary embolism. Pulmonary embolism is a life-threatening disease that can sometimes be problematic to point at, especially when the patient has no obvious symptoms. The risk factors may not be strikingly palpable, and there may also be an intersection between the symptoms and signs of pulmonary embolism and other diseases. Syncope is a comparatively easy clinical symptom to detect but has varied etiologies that lead to a standard cause in only 58% of syncopal events. It is a difficult correlation to make when syncope is the presenting symptom of pulmonary embolism. Family history in the case of undiagnosed pulmonary embolism presenting with symptoms that point in no particular direction becomes crucial in determining the disease.