How and why does clotting start in the uterus and causes a pulmonary embolus?

Answer 1

The uterine blood vessels expand during pregnancy, and they are basically just snapped off after delivery when the placenta detaches. Once that happens, the blood vessels are supposed to seal themselves off to prevent hemorrhage. Sometimes they don't stop bleeding, and in order to stop it, your body forms a clot. If that clot gets moved further into the blood vessel instead of out into the uterus and outside the body, then it can eventually travel to the heart, and then to the lungs, where it can officially be called a pulmonary embolus (before that, it's just a thrombus).

Answer 2

clotting starts in the uterus (or anywhere else inthe body) by the clotting cascade. these are many factors that regulate the clotting in the body. the intrinsic and the extrinsic factors with calcium being common to both. clotting occurs because the body recognizes that the blody is bleeding somewhere and hasn't stopped. This starts the cascade.
Blood clots (emboli) are partsof clots thathave broken off and travel through the blood vessels (either venous or arterial) and stop where their size becomes and issue with the tube they are in. Venous clots are generally safer than arterial, however, both have their consequences. in your ?, the clots break off and travel to the pulmnonary vasculature...depending on how small, you may experience a twinge (or nothing at all) to sudden dealth by the 'saddle embolis' that now occludes both pulmonary arteries.
heparin or coumadin are acute treatments and aspirin is a mild thinner (does notprevent clotting, but makes the cascade a little slower)
lab tests may be a pt/ptt, pro c and s, split fibrin products....a ct with contrast or arteriogram may be the diagnostic method of choice...MRI's take too long to get a good picture...

Answer 3

veins and arteries are all connected. a clot can form in a vain in the uterus become dislodged (emboli) and travel any where in the body and get stuck there. in your case it got stuck in the lungs