Assessment of Right Ventricular Function After Acute Pulmonary Embolism Using Speckle Tracking Echocardiography

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is the third most common cardiovascular cause of death after myocardial infarction and stroke . The incidence of PE has been increasing ,with significant associated mortality; a recent registry of PE patients reported a mortality rate > 10% at 30 days. There are a number of emerging contemporary PE therapies, including thrombolysis, catheter intervention and surgery. Early and accurate identification of PE in patients is therefore critical. A transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) may help when there is a clinical suspicion for PE, and its use in confirmed PE is widely recommended . A number of right atrial (RA) and right ventricular (RV) parameters have been shown to be abnormal in patients with PE . In addition, RA and RV enlargement portends a worse prognosis in these patients .