Bilateral massive pulmonary thromboembolism in a young patient treated with supportive measures and an inferior vena cava filter with excellent outcome.

Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common and often fatal disease with a mortality rate of more than 30% in untreated patients. There is a twofold increase in mortality in patients with massive PEs who do not receive treatment. Recurrent embolism is the most common cause of death. A 48-year-old woman presented to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore, on December 16, 2009, with a massive pulmonary thromboembolism. She was admitted to the intensive care unit and treated with supportive measures, ventilatory support, antibiotics and ionotropes. The patient was diagnosed with urosepsis with septicemic shock, disseminated intravascular coagulation, acute renal failure, high anion gap metabolic acidosis, iron-deficiency anemia secondary to menorrhagia, and a uterine mass with high cancer antigen 125, although malignancy was ruled out. Anticoagulation or thrombolysis could not be provided in view of coagulopathy. The patient subsequently underwent inferior vena cava filter insertion on December 31, 2009. The patient showed clinical improvement over the next two weeks with antibiotics and supportive measures. If there is a contraindication to anticoagulation or thrombolysis, massive pulmonary thromboembolism should be treated aggressively with supportive measures. Inferior vena cava filter insertion should be instituted early to prevent recurrent PE, which can be fatal. It may take weeks before the patient displays clinical improvement.