M-mode and two-dimensional echocardiography of pulmonary emboli

The transit of peripheral emboli on two-dimensional echocardiography through the right side of the heart has not been reported before, to the best of our knowledge. Although this finding was fortuitous and unexpected in view of the transient and unpredictable nature of systemic venous emboli, it was a clinically important finding since it alerted the physician and ultimately changed the therapeutic approach. We suggest that echocardiography can detect impending pulmonary emboli by identifying random, bizarre signals reflected from the fibrin particles in the right atrium and right ventricle. Other conditions, as already mentioned, must first be excluded in order to arrive at the correct diagnosis.