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  • Massive pulmonary embolism following recovery from COVID-19 infection: inflammation, thrombosis and the role of extended thromboprophylaxis

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Findings that shed new light on the possible pathogenesis of a disease or an adverse effect
Case report
Massive pulmonary embolism following recovery from COVID-19 infection: inflammation, thrombosis and the role of extended thromboprophylaxis
  1. Prakash Vadukul1,
  2. Deepak S Sharma1 and
  3. Paul Vincent2
  1. 1Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, Birmingham, West Midlands, UK
  2. 2Acute Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, Birmingham, West Midlands, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Deepak S Sharma; deepu84in{at}gmail.com

Abstract

COVID-19 is the infectious disease caused by a recently discovered SARS-CoV-2. Following an initial outbreak in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, the virus has spread globally culminating in the WHO declaring a pandemic on 11 March 2020. We present the case of a patient with an initial presentation of COVID-19 pneumonitis requiring mechanical ventilation for nearly 2 weeks and total admission time of 3 weeks. She was given prophylactic dose anticoagulation according to hospital protocol during this time. Following a week at home, she was readmitted with acute massive pulmonary embolism with severe respiratory and cardiac failure, representing the first such case in the literature.

  • pulmonary embolism
  • adult intensive care

This article is made freely available for use in accordance with BMJ’s website terms and conditions for the duration of the covid-19 pandemic or until otherwise determined by BMJ. You may use, download and print the article for any lawful, non-commercial purpose (including text and data mining) provided that all copyright notices and trade marks are retained.

https://bmj.com/coronavirus/usage

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2020-238168

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @deepu84in

    • Contributors PaV and DSS helped in conception or design of the work. PrV performed data collection. PrV and DSS helped in drafting the article. PaV, PrV and DSS performed critical revision and provided final approval of the version to be published.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent for publication Obtained.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.