Utility of Bronchoscopy With Endobronchial Ultrasound in Diagnosis and Monitoring of Pulmonary Embolism

Abstract

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common diagnosis made in the emergency department (ED). Although CT angiogram remains the preferred diagnostic modality, sometimes it is not possible to obtain due to hemodynamic instability, renal failure, pregnancy, etc. Bronchoscopy with endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) has been used for the evaluation of mediastinal and hilar lesions. The proximity of pulmonary vasculature to mediastinal and hilar structures can aid in utilizing EBUS for bedside diagnosis and future monitoring of pulmonary embolism. This case describes a patient who presented with cardiac arrest, likely secondary to a massive pulmonary embolism, and later underwent bronchoscopy with EBUS that demonstrated the pulmonary emboli.

Keywords: bronchoscopy; cardiac arrest; ct angiography of chest; endobronchial ultrasound (ebus); pulmonary embolism (pe); venous thromboembolism (vte).