Frontiers in Medicine (Nov 2022)

Seizure as the clinical presentation of massive pulmonary embolism: Case report and literature review

  • Waiian Leong,
  • Yueqi Zhang,
  • Xinxiang Huang,
  • Zhendong Luo,
  • Yanli Wang,
  • Timothy Hudson Rainer,
  • Abraham K. C. Wai,
  • Abraham K. C. Wai,
  • Yi Huang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.980847
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

Read online

Massive pulmonary embolism (MPE) is a high-risk medical emergency. Seizure as the clinical presentation of MPE is extremely rare, and to our knowledge, there have been no reports on successful percutaneous, catheter-based treatment of MPE presenting with new-onset seizures and cardiac arrest. In this report, we discuss the case of a 64-year-old woman who presented with an episode of seizure that lasted 5 h. Seizure occurred four times within 12 h after arrival at the hospital, and in the end, she sustained a cardiac arrest. The patient had no past history of seizure or cardiopulmonary disease. Bilateral MPE was detected by a computed tomography pulmonary angiogram, and she was successfully treated with percutaneous, catheter-directed anticoagulant therapy. Pulmonary embolism-related seizures are more difficult to diagnose and have higher mortality rates than seizures. MPE should be suspected in patients presenting with new-onset seizures and hemodynamic instability.

Keywords