“We saw during the pandemic early on, and then with the delta surge, many more blood clots,” he says. There’s a pretty convincing link, says Victor Tapson, MD, a pulmonologist at Cedars-Sinai in California. How Has COVID-19 Changed the Likelihood of Getting a Pulmonary Embolism?

How Common Are Pulmonary Embolisms?īlood clots are surprisingly common, and about 900,000 people in the United States develop DVT or a pulmonary embolism yearly, estimates the CDC.Īdditionally, the CDC says that as many as 100,000 people die of a blood clot each year, and 1 in 4 people with a pulmonary embolism die without warning. If a blood clot breaks off and travels to your lungs, it becomes a pulmonary embolism, the most serious complication of DVT. How Are the Blood Clots of Deep Vein Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism Related?ĭeep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a blood clot inside one of your body’s deep veins, often in your pelvis, lower leg, or thigh, and sometimes in your arm, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Occasionally, tumor cells, parasites, air bubbles, amniotic fluid, or fat may be the culprit in a blockage, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). What Causes a Pulmonary Embolism?Ī pulmonary embolism is a blockage in an artery in your lungs, usually caused by a blood clot. So, how does a pulmonary embolism happen, and what can you do to protect yourself? These 13 questions can get the conversation going between you and your doctor. A blood clot in an artery can be dangerous at any time, but particularly when it breaks away and lodges in your lungs, creating a pulmonary embolism.

Blot clot in lung