Pulmonary Embolism
Cause
Pulmonary embolism is caused by a blocked artery in the lungs. The most common cause of such a blockage is a blood clot that forms in a deep vein in the leg and travels to the lungs, where it becomes lodged in a smaller lung artery.
Over 95% of blood clots that cause pulmonary embolism are formed in the upper deep leg veins.1 Clots can also form in the lower deep veins of the legs as well as in the deep veins of the arms or pelvis. However, only about 20% of blood clots in the veins of the calf will become larger and move into the upper leg or groin veins.2
Occasionally blood clots develop in surface veins, but these clots rarely lead to pulmonary embolism.
In rare cases, pulmonary embolism may be caused by other substances, including:3
- Small masses of infectious material.
- Fat, which can be released into the bloodstream after some types of bone fractures, surgery, trauma, or severe burns.
- Air bubbles from trauma, surgery, or medical procedures.
- Amniotic fluid from normal or complicated pregnancy and childbirth (very rare).
- Tumors caused by rapidly growing cancer cells.
- Foreign substances—such as a catheter that can break off during a medical procedure, talc, mercury, iodine, cotton, or the growth of tapeworm larvae.
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| Author: | Shannon Erstad, MBA/MPH | Last Updated: February 13, 2007 |
| Medical Review: | Caroline S. Rhoads, MD - Internal Medicine Jeffrey S. Ginsberg, MD - Hematology | |
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