PULMONARY EMBOLISMS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY EVIDENCE OF RIGHT VENTRICULAR STRAIN

Delays in the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary embolism can prove fatal. Readily available noninvasive techniques would be quite useful in the early diagnosis of this potentially lethal condition. Pulmonary embolisms are associated with evidence of right ventricular pressure overload on echocardiogram. Correlation was found between pulmonary embolism and combination of raised pulmonary artery pressures, right ventricular dilatation and hypocontractile right ventricle on echocardiogram. Echocardiogram is an important noninvasive tool in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism.