A rare case of severe pulmonary embolism revealed by consciousness disorders

Over the several years, only few cases of consciousness was diagnosed as pulmonary embolism in the world. The obstruction of the pulmonary arterial tree is viewed as the source of pulmonary embolism, and eventually trigger the severe cardiopulmonary failure. Diagnosis of pulmonary embolism is dependent on the imaging data, such as the computed tomographic detection. Above 50% of patients with pulmonary embolism are normotensive and they have neither echocardiographic nor laboratory signs of right heart dysfunction. Therefore, the precise prognosis of acute pulmonary embolism presented with rare characteristic is important to improve risk management. In some circumstance, the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism remains a challenge with atypical characterization presented in this case. A case report of this is given to accumulate the diagnostic experience for further analysis. Herein, we report a case of a severe pulmonary embolism that revealed by consciousness disorders. This report highlights the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) could be the only life-sustaining and the possibility of the solution treatment of acute pulmonary embolism.