This article is one of ten reviews selected from the Annual Update in Intensive Care and
Emergency Medicine 2021. Other selected articles can be found online at https://www.
biomedcentral. com/collections/annualupdate2021. Further information about the Annual
Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine is available from https://link. springer.
com/bookseries/8901.

Intermediate-risk (submassive) pulmonary embolism (PE) describes normotensive patients
with evidence of right ventricular compromise, whereas high-risk (massive) PE comprises
those who have experienced hemodynamic decompensation with hypotension, cardiogenic
shock, or cardiac arrest. Together, these 2 syndromes represent the most clinically
challenging manifestations of the PE spectrum. Prompt therapeutic anticoagulation remains
the cornerstone of therapy for both intermediate-and high-risk PE. Patients with intermediate …