Oh, my goodness....

I have years of reading information about DVTs and PEs, and I've never heard of such a thing either. The cases of stroke that I have heard of were situations when the clots basically went through an abnormal pathway in the heart on the way to the lungs. It can happen, but doesn't happen often. It would be something that would have happened prior to diagnosis, not after you've been in treatment.

The person who said their doctors have asked whether they were evaluated for stoke or mini-stroke or whatever, the doctors would either be suspecting that a stroke could have been suffered during the emergency of PE itself, or possibly they're thinking maybe it happened after this person went off anticoagulation. Whatever her situation, she must have a very specific set of circumstances for her doctors to suspect that's a possibility. I think personally the trauma and lack of oxygen can cause some extent of those symptoms in any of us for a period of time, without having suffered a stroke. Clots in our lungs don't break apart and go to our brains.

If I sound annoyed, Indwen, please don't think it's at you. Considering the other discussion I understand asking. What I get annoyed at is that this idea of rogue clots floating around our bodies and landing in our brains is now a question in peoples' minds, when that is not part of recovery from PE, it's not a risk during recovery. If someone had suffered a stroke as part of their clotting event it would have been diagnosed at the same time as everything else. Clots that get in the lungs are there for good until they reabsorb.

My understanding from the structure of the body, there's no way for clots to move from the lungs elsewhere. The blood vessels in the lungs get smaller and smaller and smaller until they're tiny little capillaries. Way too small for a clot to get through. The lungs are kind of a net that catch the clots and they just get stuck... they can't possibly move elsewhere.

According to Merriam-Webster: "Capillaries are just large enough for red blood cells to pass through in single file." Based on that, there's no possible way that anything as large as a clot could get through the capillaries.

I think there are some super-rare deformaties in the heart (holes and etc.) that can allow clots to move into the wrong part of the circulatory system and wind up in the brain, but, yeah, that'd happen before diagnosis. Once you're diagnosed and in treatment, there really shouldn't be any clots moving anywhere anymore.

I think that other post put unnecessary fear in folks. And I suspect you can't find studies because it's not really a part of a PE recovery. I mean if there was a real risk of clots leaving your lungs and traveling throughout the body, particularly the brain, I'd find it hard to believe doctors would release us from the hospital after initial treatment. I agree with the ladies that there may be some anomalies that may cause a complication for some people but that would certainly not be the norm.

Thanks for the clarification on this. My wife's sister is a Doctor in the DR and she basically said what you guys have explained to me here. Thanks again for responding.

Indwen