Clot-in-transit is associated with severe pulmonary embolism and higher mortality than acute pulmonary embolism without clot-in-transit. The optimal treatment of clot-in-transit is not established. Multiple treatment options have been described, including anticoagulation alone, systemic thrombolysis, surgical embolectomy and endovascular catheter-based therapies. Clot-in-transit can embolize to the pulmonary circulation in a matter of seconds and be immediately fatal. We describe two cases of clot-in-transit which embolized quickly upon Intensivist's evaluation and were associated with serious consequences. Management decisions for clot-in-transit should be emergent and based on multidisciplinary discussion of the pulmonary embolism response team.
Keywords: Clot-in-transit; embolectomy; point-of-care ultrasonography; pulmonary embolism; thrombolysis.
© The Author(s) 2023.