Pulmonary infarction: A disease of the (mostly) young

Abstract

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/resp.13299/abstract

Dynamics of CT visible pleural effusion in patients with pulmonary infarction

“…We recorded: demographic data, comorbidities, location and size of the pulmonary infarction, presence, location and size of pleural effusion and time between the onset of clinical symptoms (pleuritic pain, haemoptysis) and the time at which CT-PA was performed. 6 The size of the effusion was expressed as a fluid layer, measured in its thickest part, perpendicular to the thoracic wall 7 , as shown in Figure 1 . Pulmonary infarction was defined as pleural based pulmonary consolidation without contrast enhancement.…”

Pulmonary Embolism Presenting with Pulmonary Infarction: Update and Practical Review of Literature Data

“…Nonetheless, patients with PI are more likely to present with pleuritic chest pain [ 2 ] and its association with hemoptysis and fever furtherly increases the clinical suspicion of this entity [ 16 ]. PI is compatible with pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and congestive heart failure [ 4 ]. Since radiographic imaging may be unreliable and ambiguous, there is a high risk of the wrong conclusion that the cause of the patient’s symptoms is one of these entities instead of PI [ 4 , 17 ].…”

“…PI is compatible with pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and congestive heart failure [ 4 ]. Since radiographic imaging may be unreliable and ambiguous, there is a high risk of the wrong conclusion that the cause of the patient’s symptoms is one of these entities instead of PI [ 4 , 17 ]. Furthermore, when approaching an otherwise young and healthy individual with unexplained pleuritic chest pain or hemoptysis in the emergency department, a PI complicating an acute PE should be considered a possible diagnosis among other conditions (e.g., pneumonia, lung neoplasia, lung granulomatous disease) [ 3 , 4 ].…”

“…Due to the impact of PI on prognosis, its presence should be taken into account when stratifying the risk of patients with PE. This necessity is even more urgent in young patients and otherwise healthy individuals as misdiagnosis of PI in this group appears critical [ 4 , 10 ]. Since the infarcted area is ideal for the development of infections and inflammation, it could be responsible for adverse outcomes in young individuals [ 1 , 49 ].…”

“…Very often misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of PE results in difficult identification of PI [ 2 , 3 ]. Furthermore, the short- and long-term consequences after PE that can lead to PI and a higher risk of death are still unclear [ 1 , 4 , 5 ].…”