Citation

Moffatt K, Silberberg PJ, Gnarra DJ. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2007; 39(6): 899-902.

Affiliation

Creighton University School of Medicine, and Children's Hospital, Omaha, NE, USA. kmoffatt@chsomaha.org

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1249/01.mss.0b013e31803d35e7

PMID

17545877

Abstract

Pulmonary emboli are potentially life threatening and are rare in the young, healthy, athletic population. We describe the presentation of pulmonary emboli in an otherwise healthy athlete; this has not been reported previously in the literature. A 16-yr-old male soccer player with no apparent risk factors presented in distress with bilateral pulmonary emboli. An extensive workup did not reveal a cause for this phenomenon. The patient was anticoagulated, and a Greenfield inferior vena cava filter was placed because of recurrent symptoms and poor compliance with anticoagulation. This case report illustrates the importance of considering pulmonary embolism as a diagnosis in athletes who present with sudden onset of dyspnea with no discernable cause. Greenfield filter placement in the management of these cases remains controversial.

Language: en