Two pulmonary emboli in a psych pod

Abstract

Abstract Background A female patient known to have schizoaffective disorder self‐presented to an emergency department in a state of acute agitation and paranoia shortly after a 35‐day inpatient stay at a psychiatric facility. Case report The patient exhibited no signs or complaints of dyspnea or hypoxia, but later collapsed and became hypoxic after sleeping comfortably with sedation for 12 h in the psychiatric unit. She was intubated and a computed tomography angiogram revealed bilateral lobar pulmonary emboli and right heart strain. Conclusion Psychiatric hospitalizations, medications, diagnoses and relevant sequelae increase venous thromboembolism risk more than many realize.

Keywords

• acute psychosis
• pulmonary embolism
• pulmonary embolism
• venous thromboembolism risk
• venous thromboembolism