What Is a Pulmonary Embolism?
2. Risk Factors
Various conditions and medications can increase the coagulability of blood. For example, some of the following are risk factors for pulmonary embolism: pregnancy, oral contraceptives, estrogen replacement therapy, malignancy, hereditary factors, and obesity.
Any condition where there is venous stasis also increases the risk of pulmonary embolism as it leads to the accumulation of thrombin and platelets in the veins. This includes immobilization, surgery, and trauma. Among patients found with clots in their veins, as many as 17% were found to have an underlying malignancy. Pulmonary embolism has been reported in patients with lymphomas, leukemias, pancreatic carcinoma, genitourinary tract carcinoma, colon cancer, and breast cancer.
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