Impact of earthquakes on risk for pulmonary embolism

Physical and psychological stress induced by catastrophic events such as earthquakes can lead to sudden death, acute coronary syndrome, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases. We investigated the impact of the earthquake that occurred in Niigata, Japan, on pulmonary embolism. Pulmonary embolism increased to 9 cases in the 4 weeks after the earthquake, compared to 1 case in the 4 weeks before the earthquake, 2 cases in the corresponding 8 weeks in 2003, and 1 case in 2002. The first case occurred two days after the initial earthquake and new cases were reported for 27 days thereafter. Six of 9 patients (67%) took refuge in their automobiles before the onset of pulmonary embolism. Sudden death also increased after the earthquake and 7 of 22 cases (32%) spend night(s) in automobile. In conclusion, pulmonary embolism should be attended after disasters and prolonged immobilization in automobiles may increase risk of pulmonary embolism and sudden death.