Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) Support Group
Deep-vein thrombosis, also known as deep-venous thrombosis or DVT, is the formation of a blood clot ("thrombus") in a deep vein. It can be caused by something preventing blood from circulating or clotting normally. Join the support group if you are coping with DVT and find others who are going through the same challenges.
Hello, I have a question. I was diagnosed with massive pulmonary embolisms in May 2014.I stopped medicine treatment (marcoumar) at the end of November.
Most days I feel perfectly fine. 2 days a week I go to the gym and work out mildly when I do my heart rate goes up rather quickly to 170 and above.
Because of this I had a endurance test in the hospital on the bicycle with ECG plus blood gas and everything
Results were good but they saw a slight abnormality. that's why today I had a ventilation and perfusion scan.
I don't have the official results yet but because my husband knows the radiologist I already know he saw multiple undissolved clots.
Will get formal results next week.
What does it mean to have This? Does This mean surgery.
Sorry for the spelling I am from Europe and also typing on a phone.
Most days I feel perfectly fine. 2 days a week I go to the gym and work out mildly when I do my heart rate goes up rather quickly to 170 and above.
Because of this I had a endurance test in the hospital on the bicycle with ECG plus blood gas and everything
Results were good but they saw a slight abnormality. that's why today I had a ventilation and perfusion scan.
I don't have the official results yet but because my husband knows the radiologist I already know he saw multiple undissolved clots.
Will get formal results next week.
What does it mean to have This? Does This mean surgery.
Sorry for the spelling I am from Europe and also typing on a phone.
Second, I think I would ask for a CT. That's really the gold standard in diagnosing clots.
Third, I would have them compare the current CT to your previous CT to make sure these are the old clots that are not dissolving. You want to be sure these are not brand-new clots (especially since you aren't taking any meds to prevent clotting.
I will say that not everyone's clots completely dissolve in the usual six months of medication. I know one person on the PE boards (and this would be a good question to post there) whose PEs took about two years to completely disappear. I had a DVT that took years (somewhere between 5 and 9 years) to dissolve as well. Truthfully, I don't think they know how long it takes the clots to dissolve--and it is different for every person. Many (most?) people don't get a repeat CT after stopping the medicine, so whether the clots are still there or not, who knows?
So, no, I don't think is automatically means surgery. You'll have to wait and get more information and see what is suggested at that point.
I have clots not fully dissolved behind my knee from two years ago
Could you clarify where these residual clots are. Are they in the lungs, or in the veins. As your clots are now 8 months old, they may disappear evenually, or they may be there forever. It is impossible to say. Generally, the clot do not decrease much after year or so. However, if they are not dissolved, these become part of your body, i..e covered with scar tissue.
I think the best strategy is to remove the clots if these still cause health problems in few years time as I suspect the recovery from your PE could take long time. However, this depends on the location of the clot. If the clot is in the lung, it may not be very wise to remove it from there at all.
CT scans are very effective to detect clots. However, the amount of radiation they release during CT scan is very high, and thus it should not thus be carried out only if it is necessary.
Getting formal results today so will let you know.
There were never any clots in my legs discovered. Had a doppler a few weeks after the PE. Also no residual signs that indicated there could have been a clot.
So if there are clots left they are in my lungs