Why a massive pulmonary embolus interferes with oxygenation?
When embolus blocks the pulmonary artery, the individuals may not be able to get sufficient oxygen into the blood, and this interferes with oxygenation. Oxygenation involves the addition of oxygen to any system in the human body. The pulmonary artery carries the deoxygenated blood from the right ventricle to the lungs for purification (Auckburally,2016). However, when the artery gets blocked, the blood fails to reach the lungs to be oxygenated. It interferes with the supply of the blood to the other parts of the body, limiting oxygenation. The blood from the right ventricle passes through the capillaries adjacent to alveoli and becomes oxygenated as a component of respiration. The massive pulmonary embolus hinders oxygenation by blocking the pulmonary artery that passes the blood to the lungs for purification and use in the human body.
The sudden development of severe shortness in breath, becoming weak, and the blood pressure dropping to 80/40 mmHg was due to the insufficient supply of the blood. The blockage of the large pulmonary artery by the embolus prevented the supply of oxygenated blood to the body (Auckburally,2016). The large emboli cause a significant blockage that the heart cannot pump enough blood through the pulmonary arteries that remain open, and this will reduce the blood pressure in the body. It explains the drop in the blood pressure from 130/80s mmHg to 80/40 mmHg. The pressure of the blood was reduced by the inability of the heart to pump the blood to the whole body parts.