Pulmonary embolism: improvement in hemodynamic function with amrinone therapy

We have described a 57-year-old man who had had lower extremity vascular surgery complicated by PE. Dyspnea, hypotension, hypoxemia, and CHF developed, but thrombolytic therapy was not started because of the recent surgical procedure; instead, he had plication of the inferior vena cava. Because of persistent pulmonary artery hypertension and decreasing cardiac indices, amrinone therapy was begun, and resulted in marked hemodynamic improvement.