He had suffered from left arthritic pain towards the end of his career and had decided to undergo hip replacement surgery. Since he was otherwise healthy, it seemed certain that the procedure would provide improvement for him to resume his normal activities and enjoy his retirement years. The surgery went very well, and Dr F. was discharged to a rehabilitation centre for one week. Three days later, while having physiotherapy, he experienced shortness of breath, chest pain and died. They were both healthy persons who died suddenly.
Pulmonary embolism refers to the presence of blood clots in the blood vessels of the lungs.
When sufficiently large, these clots may block the passage of blood from the lungs to the heart and cause a cardiac arrest. Fortunately, the great majority of patients with pulmonary embolism do not experience sudden death and can seek medical treatment. The most common symptoms of pulmonary embolism are a sudden onset of shortness of breath and one-sided chest pain. Typically, the chest pain is worsened by deep inspiration. Pulmonary emboli do not occur de novo from within the lung vessels but originate from the deep veins of the legs.