A Case of Massive Pulmonary Thromboembolism in a Young Man Attribute to Computer Gaming

Pulmonary thromboembolism occurs in old patients with risk factors, such as, immobilization, chronic medical disease, trauma, a hereditary hypercoagulable state, and others. However, we experienced a young man with a massive pulmonary thromboembolism attributed to immobilization due to computer gaming. The patient had been playing computer games in a seated position for at least five hour continually, and for twelve hours per day over a two-week period. The 36-year-old patient was transferred to our institute rule out the possibility of an acute myocardial infarction. Computer tomography revealed intraluminal filling defects in the distal main pulmonary artery and the left popliteal vein. He received thrombolytic therapy and subsequently recovered without complications. This case raises the possibility that prolonged computer gaming is a risk factor of thromboembolism in young adults. KCI Citation Count: 0