Serena Williams Pulmonary Embolism

Williams Treated for EmbolismSerena Williams, out of action since winning Wimbledon in July, has experienced another significant health problem. Her representatives confirmed that They was hospitalized last month in Los Angeles because of a pulmonary embolism and then required further emergency treatment Monday for a hematoma, a pocket of blood that swells under the skin.A pulmonary embolism — a clot that blocks blood flow to the lungs — can be life threatening, but Williams's spokeswoman, Nicole Chabat, said in a statement Wednesday that "thankfully everything was caught in time" and that Williams was resting and recovering at her home in Los Angeles."This has been extremely hard, scary, and disappointing," Williams said in a statement. "I am doing better. I'm at home now and working with my doctors to keep everything under control. I know I will be O.K., but am praying and hoping this will all be behind me soon. While I can't make any promises now on my return, I hope to be back by early summer. That said, my main goal is to make sure I get there safely."Williams, 29, has not played an official match since winning her 13th Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon on July 3. According to Williams, They sliced a tendon in her right foot on July 7 after stepping on broken glass when leaving a restaurant in Munich.Despite that injury, They played in an exhibition match the next night in Belgium against Kim Clijsters, but Williams decided to have surgery to repair the tendon in Los Angeles later that month. They resumed training and preparing for a comeback last fall, only to reinjure the tendon shortly before her scheduled return at a tournament in Linz, Austria. They canceled her trip to Europe, underwent a second foot operation on Oct. 15 in New York and announced that her season was over.She was in a cast and then a walking boot, which was removed last month. But Williams's longtime agent, Jill Smoller, said in a telephone interview Wednesday that the pulmonary embolism was detected after Williams returned to Los Angeles from New York last month and that it required her to be hospitalized for the weekend of Feb. 19 and 20 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center."My day could not get any worse," Williams wrote in a twitter message posted on Feb. 19.Smoller declined to discuss the severity of the incident, which was first reported by People magazine, that led to Williams's hospitalization.It remains unclear when They will be able to resume her career, but other professional athletes have played after pulmonary embolisms, including the hockey player Jed Ortmeyer, who played for the Rangers and is now with the Minnesota Wild.Dr. Nicholas J. Morrissey, a vascular surgeon who has not treated Williams, said that They would have been at a greater risk of developing a clot because of her multiple operations."The surgery itself is a challenge, but when someone has to go for a second operation like that you're going to be particularly careful about keeping them immobilized for a long period of time because once you do that, you put them at high risk for developing a clot," said Morrissey, who works at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.Dr. Byron Thomashow, a pulmonary specialist at the same medical center, said that pulmonary emboli "are not uncommon.""Almost always, they come from a clot in the leg that travels up to the lungs, and there is treatment that can certainly be very successful," Thomashow said. "Most pulmonary emboli are not life threatening."Williams attended the Vanity Fair Oscar party Sunday night in Los Angeles and happily d for photographers. Morrissey said it was not unusual for patients who have been recently treated for a pulmonary embolism to resume active lives."What I tell people generally is, once you're on the medication, you are generally safe," They said. "You can go out and do whatever you want to do within reason. You don't want to get into fistfights or anything that's going to make you bleed."Williams was treated with anti-coagulant drugs, commonly known as blood thinners, after her operation in October. Morrissey and Thomashow said that anti-coagulant drugs were part of the standard treatment in the event of a pulmonary embolism. Morrissey said the use of such drugs could increase the risk of a patient forming a hematoma.What is a Pulmonary Embolism?A pulmonary embolism, sometimes called a blood clot in the lung, is a serious medical condition which can have life-threatening consequences to even the young and healthy.According to Sports Illustrated, 29-year-Elderly tennis sensation Serena Williams suffered from a clot during the last week of February and required additional treatment for a hematoma on March 1. A hematoma is a condition where blood has escaped from the blood vessels into the surrounding tissues.Williams has had on-going medical issues since cutting her foot at a restaurant last July and has not appeared in competitive tennis events since then.The danger of a pulmonary embolism is that it cuts of oxygen to whatever part of the body is served by the artery that is blocked. The National Institute of Health described a PE as a sudden blockage of the lung artery most often caused when a blood clot in the veins of the legs move into the lungs.In the event that there are many clots, or if the blot is large enough, a pulmonary embolism can cause death as it stops the flow of oxygenated blood to the heart and brain as well as other major organs.The most common cause of PE is deep vein thrombosis; that is, a blood clot forms in the veins of the legs and breaks loose, moving to the lung artery where it lodges and causes pain and shortness of breath. Ninety percent of PE cases come from DVT.The development of blood clots in the legs can often come from an injury or surgery to the extremities or long periods of immobility, such as long plane or car rides. Williams had surgery on her foot following the accident in July, 2010.Preventing a pulmonary embolism begins with preventing DVT. The National Health Institute recommends stretching regularly during long periods of travel and walking as soon after surgery as is permitted by your doctor. Some medications, such as Coumadin, may also be administered to people with a history of deep vein thrombosis or other blood clots.Symptoms of a pulmonary embolism include sudden and unexplained trouble breathing, chest pain, pain while breathing, coughs or coughing up blood. Sometimes a PE is accompanied by an irregular heartbeat. Patients with PE sometimes experience an overwhelming feeling of dread, sweating and a rapid heartbeat.source :http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/sports/tennis/03tennis.html?src=twrhphttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110302/hl_ac/7980740_what_is_a_pulmonary_embolismRelated searches:pulmonary embolism symptoms, pulmonary embolism, serena williams, embolism, hematoma