Survival after cardiac arrest secondary to high-risk pulmonary embolism without reperfusion therapies: A case report

INTRODUCTION: High-risk pulmonary embolism (PE) needs reperfusion therapies. However, it is difficult to make medical decisions when thrombolysis is contraindicated, though pulmonary embolectomy and percutaneous catheter-directed treatment (CTD) are recommended for these patients. PATIENT CONCERNS: We reported here a case of high-risk PE patient with cardiac arrest (CA), vertebral compression fracture, as well as scalp and frontal hematoma. DIAGNOSIS: The diagnosis of PE was based on computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) which demonstrated filling defects in the right and left pulmonary arteries. INTERVENTIONS: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed until the patient returned to idioventricular rhythm 3 minutes after admitted. She suffered another half-hour of hemodynamic disturbance after her shock improved 3 days later. The diagnosis of PE was confirmed by CTPA at that time. The patient did not receive any reperfusion therapies because hemoglobin decreased significantly. Moreover, anticoagulation was postponed for 2 weeks when bleeding appeared to be stopped. She received overlapping treatment with low molecular weight heparin and warfarin for 5 days then warfarin alone and discharged. OUTCOMES: She was discharged with normal vital signs and neurologically intact. She received anticoagulant therapy with warfarin and international normalized ratio regularly monitored after she was discharged, moreover, the pulmonary artery pressure turned normal, as determined by transthoracic echocardiography 1 month later. The warfarin treatment was discontinued after 12 months and no evidence of recurrence was seen until recently. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first case report of PE combined with CA that did not receive reperfusion therapy. We hypothesized that there was a spontaneous resolution in pulmonary emboli.