The presence of a right intraventricular thrombus is a marker of severity of pulmonary embolism (PE), and is associated with high mortality. We report the case of a young patient with a PE postoperative of patellar tendon surgery. The cardiac echocardiography at its admission revealed a voluminous mobile thrombus of 1.7cm diameter located on the pulmonary trunk. Systemic thrombolysis was performed because of respiratory deterioration allowing a rapid disappearance of the thrombus and recovery. Our case emphasizes the value of a complete ultrasound analysis centered on the pulmonary trunk in the case of intermediate-risk PE. No recommendation exists on the management of these right ventricular thrombi, thrombolysis appearing to be the first-line treatment.
Keywords: Echocardiography; Embolie pulmonaire; Pulmonary embolism; Pulmonary trunk; Thrombolyse; Thrombolysis; Thrombus; Tronc artériel pulmonaire; Échographie cardiaque.
Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier SAS.