Pulmonary Embolism in Children

OBJECTIVE. Pediatric pulmonary thromboembolism (PE) has historically been considered a rare entity with relatively little published in the medical literature. The purpose of this article is to bridge some of the current knowledge gap regarding PE by presenting a comprehensive review of the topic, including discussion of its epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, nonimaging diagnostic examinations, imaging evaluation, treatment and prognosis, and future imaging research directions. CONCLUSION. Imaging plays a key role in the evaluation of pediatric PE, and imaging technology will continue to improve. CT will likely remain a first-line diagnostic modality with newer techniques such as dual-energy CT having the potential to become more widely used while improving sensitivity and specificity for small and distal PE. Alternatively, given its lack of ionizing radiation and high sensitivity and specificity when technically adequate, MRI is appealing and may become a viable first-line substitute to CT.