A CT scan of a pulmonary infarction
A lung infarction is a potential side effect of a pulmonary embolism. When the lungs do not receive enough oxygen tissue death can occur. This tissue death is known as a pulmonary infarction. Luckily the lungs have a large number of arteries. If one artery is blocked, the others can often supply the lungs with enough oxygenated blood. This means that lung infarctions are fairly rare and often only occur in people with large, multiple pulmonary emboli. According to Weng et al. (2011) around 1% of the people who have a pulmonary embolism will develop a pulmonary infarction.
According to Cedars-Sinai hospital, pulmonary infarctions caused by pulmonary embolisms may have the following symptoms:
A lung infarction can be diagnosed by looking at a chest X-ray or lung CT scan image. In fact, this is the only sign of a pulmonary embolism that will show up on an X-ray.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, lung infarctions generally heal within three weeks. When they heal, tissue will be replaced with scar tissue.
Photo Credit: Yale Rosen [CC-BY-SA-2.0] via Wikimedia Commons
According to Cedars-Sinai hospital, pulmonary infarctions caused by pulmonary embolisms may have the following symptoms:
- Coughing up blood or blood stains in the sputum
- Sharp chest pains
- Sometimes a fever will be present
A lung infarction can be diagnosed by looking at a chest X-ray or lung CT scan image. In fact, this is the only sign of a pulmonary embolism that will show up on an X-ray.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, lung infarctions generally heal within three weeks. When they heal, tissue will be replaced with scar tissue.
Photo Credit: Yale Rosen [CC-BY-SA-2.0] via Wikimedia Commons
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