Minimally invasive procedure removes potentially deadly clots in lungs
As many as 900,000 Americans develop potentially deadly blood clots every year, 30% of them with no known risk factors. Now, specialists have a new FDA-approved approach for removing these clots if they travel to the lungs. When Shawn Chase started experiencing shortness of breath a few months ago he thought he was just out of shape.
“It wasn’t something that came on quickly. It wasn’t like I just woke up one day and couldn’t breathe,” he said. But when he started struggling with basic daily activities, he knew it was time to see a doctor. “I started to see a heart doctor first. I did chest x-rays but none of those showed what was really going on,” he said.