Some facts about Pulmonary Embolism

Interesting information, courtesy of emedicine/Web MD:

• As a cause of sudden death, massive pulmonary embolism is second only to sudden cardiac death. Autopsy studies of patients who died unexpectedly in a hospital setting have shown approximately 80% of these patients died from massive pulmonary embolism.

• Approximately 10% of patients who develop pulmonary embolism die within the first hour, and 30% die subsequently from recurrent embolism. Anticoagulant treatment decreases the mortality rate to less than 5%.

• The diagnosis of pulmonary embolism is missed in approximately 400,000 patients in the United States per year; approximately 100,000 deaths could be prevented with proper diagnosis and treatment.

Which is why I am going to stay on this Coumadin for a very, very long time. "Recurrent embolism" is not something I want any part of.