Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is the most serious manifestation of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and a major cause of mortality, morbidity and hospitalization in Western countries [1]. Acute right ventricular (RV) dysfunction due to pressure overload is the critical determinant of outcome in acute PE. Accordingly, clinical symptoms and signs of RV dysfunction such as persistent arterial hypotension, RV dilatation an imaging modalities and elevated cardiac biomarkers indicate a higher risk of early mortality [2,3].
