The Journal of the Japanese Respiratory Society ONLINE JOURNAL

 ONLINE JOURNAL TOP   VOL.39 NO.5 TABLE OF CONTENTS

JAPANESE/ENGLISH

ABSTRACT

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Article in Japanese

The patient was a 69-year-old man with a 3-year history of diabetes mellitus accompanied by cerebral infarction and arteriosclerosis obliterans of the lower extremities. After squatting to clean a car, the patient began to experience dyspnea. A blood gas analysis was performed upon admission, and the patient's PaCO₂ and PaO₂ levels were found to be low. Examination of a blood sample revealed elevated FDP, FDP-D dimer and platelet factor4levels. A perfusion lung scan showed multiple defects in both lungs, but no abnormal findings were detected on a ventilation scan. A pulmonary angiogram showed an interrupted blood flow in branches A⁹⁺¹⁰ of the left pulmonary artery. Accordingly, a pulmonary embolism was diagnosed. Squatting may have caused a partial obstruction of the venous return from the lower extremities by compression of the inguinal region and may have been a predisposing cause of the thrombosis. To our knowledge, such cases of pulmonary embolism triggered by the act of squatting are very rare.

KEYWORDS: Pulmonary embolism, Squat, Venous stasis, Diabetes mellitus

RECEIVED: 2000.8.7

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