WHAT CAUSES LIFE-THREATENING BLOOD CLOTS IN LUNGS FOLLOWING BRAIN SURGERY?
MAYWOOD, Ill. — One of the most severe complications of brain surgery is a life-threatening blood clot in the lungs called a pulmonary embolism. But a Loyola University Health System study published in the Journal of Neurosurgery suggests that screening methods hospitals typically use to access the risk of pulmonary embolisms may fall short. Hospitals typically screen for blood clots in legs, which can break free, travel to the lungs and cause pulmonary embolisms. But in the Loyola study, only seven of the 22 patients who experienced pulmonary embolisms showed evidence of leg blood clots, while nine embolism patients tested negative for leg clots. A blood clot in the vein is known as a deep venous thrombosis (DVT). “We could not demonstrate a good correlation between lower extremity DVT and pulmonary embolism in our patient population,” senior author Thomas Origitano, MD, PhD and colleagues wrote. Origitano is chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at Loyola University Stritc
