wonder how big the embolus was. PEs can be really tiny and not clinically/radiographically significant at all. some people believe that a huge number of hospital patients actually develop PEs (~20% of all hospital patients, some postulate) but they are so tiny no one actually notices them. they can also be quite fatal, sometimes basically blocking all the blood flow to the lung, causing the lung to infarct and the heart to strain/fail. one guy died from a PE while i was doing chest compressions on him.
so is this why dupuis left the game last night? it must have been fairly sizable for him to notice the symptoms during a game. could have just been shortness of breath and dizziness, but he also might have been coughing up blood and chest pain to the extent that he thought he was going to die. probably the former, since he wasnt rushed to a hospital as far as i know.
if he had a dvt/pe after the surgery, than that was a provoked pe, with his immobilization probably causing the clot. but now he had another clot, with no clear predisposing factor then that is an unprovoked clot. he likely has a genetic condition that makes him predisposed to clotting. the standard of care would be for him to remain on anticoagulation for a long time, possible for his life. most likely he will be retiring.
sad for dupuis but he has had a nice career, will still get paid, and can enjoy an otherwise completely functional life with his family.
