Pulmonary Embolism Support Group
By far the most common form of pulmonary embolism is a thromboembolism, which occurs when a blood clot, generally a venous thrombus, becomes dislodged from its site of formation and embolizes to the arterial blood supply of one of the lungs. Symptoms may include difficulty breathing, pain during breathing, and more rarely circulatory instability and death.
i recently had my repeat CT scan and as yet i havent had the results but i just wondered - when i had the first scan when the clots were diagnosed they injected an iodine dye into my arm - this wasnt done the second time - does that mean the clots wont show? Just wondering if anyone else has had the same scenario?
I had a repeat scan at five weeks out but it was because I had a sudden increase in pain and exhaustion and my hematologist wanted to make sure that there wasn't a problem.
I have had at least one other scan, but that was to look at an adrenal adenoma that they found when my PEs were diagnosed.
Really, I wouldn't be too eager to repeat a scan if you don't have to. The radiation is intense and it really shouldn't matter if your clots have dissolved or not. Not everybody's too, but they stabilize after a few months (if they don't dissolve) and don't pose a threat at that point. I still have a DVT in my leg from 2005, but it doesn't cause issues.
As for doing a scan without dye, I wonder what they were looking for. You should call and ask your doc and find out what the deal is. Hard for us to guess what they were trying to make happen.
Best wishes! Keep us posted!