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Updated: Aug 7, 2026

Establishment of a Minimally Invasive Rat Model of Pulmonary Embolism Using Autologous Blood Clots
Published on: October 25, 2024
Knot in a pulmonary thromboembolus
Aim:
To describe an unusual morphological appearance of a pulmonary thromboembolus.
Case Report:
An adult male was admitted following a collapse at home and certified dead soon after. There was no past history of thromboembolic predisposition, risk or phenomena apart from a BMI of 34, cigarette smoking and recent discharge from hospital following a chest infection. Postmortem findings were those of death due a pulmonary thromboembolus complicating deep (calf) vein thrombosis. Unusually and unexpectedly, a knot was found in the leading (head) portion of this thromboembolus.
Conclusion:
We describe the first reported case of a knot in a thromboembolus and speculate that this could only have occurred in the larger veins or during its course through the right side of the heart.
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