›› 2010, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (12): 1554-.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8115.2010.12.025

• Review • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Clinical value of echocardiography in diagnosis of pulmonary embolism

ZHANG Xin-yun1,2| JI Xiao-wei1,2, YAN Wei-li2, XIONG Ping1   

  1. 1.Department of Echocardiography, The Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanhai 200011, China;2.Department of Nuclear Medicine, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200127, China
  • Online:2010-12-25 Published:2010-12-31
  • Supported by:

    National Natural Science Foundation of China, 30770599;Shanghai Education Committee Foundation, 09YZ82;Shanghai Key Discipline Construction Project, S30203

Abstract:

Pulmonary embolism is an emergency condition with high morbidity and mortality, and many methods can help to diagnosis pulmonary embolism. Echocardiography is of great value in the determination of clinical types of PE and evaluation of hemodynamics of PE and therapeutic effect. Transthoracic echocardiography and transesophageal echocardiography are commonly used clinically, and both possess relatively higher sensitivity and specificity. Echocardiography outperforms the other imaging examinations in the diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism. The roles of echocardiography in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism are reviewed in this article.

Key words: pulmonary embolism, transthoracic echocardiography, transesophageal echocardiography, right ventricular load