Curriculum · Respiratory
Septic pulmonary emboli
What it is
Septic pulmonary embolism is one of the vascular entries in the list of causes of lung cavities, standing beside pulmonary embolism with its infarcts. It is therefore read on the chest film as a cavitating process, and the question it raises is where the infected material is being thrown from.
Causes and risk
The heart is the source: it is washing emboli out everywhere in the body. Septic emboli are named among the two major complications of infective endocarditis. The setting in which the imaging findings are attributed to septic pulmonary emboli is an IV drug user with a history of fever, cough and tricuspid regurgitation.