PEIR Digital Library

Welcome to the Pathology Education Informational Resource (PEIR) Digital Library, a multidisciplinary public access image database for use in medical education.

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RADIOLOGY: VASCULAR: Case# 26: CENTRAL PTE. 55 yo male with right lower lobe opacity on chest radiograph. Extensive thrombus is present in the superior vena cava, right and left main pulmonary arteries, and distal right lobar arteries. Right lower lobe consolidation is also present (only partially shown on the above images) which represents early pulmonary infarction. Pulmonary thromboembolism is routinely diagnosed on nuclear venitlation-perfusion scans and by pulmonary angiography. CT or MRI can be helpful in patients for whom arteriography is contraindicated and in ruling out large central pulmonary emboli. Emboli appear as intravascular filling defects on contrast-enhanced CT. Rapid spiral CT scanning done in a single breath hold is becoming a more utilized technique for the detection of pulmonary emboli.