Heart attack

I had a DVT that went through my heart and into my lungs(PE).

A valve was damaged, also one chanber of my heart.  

My problem is that I wasn't diagnosed as a "heart attack", but rather a "pulmonary embolism", and the lawyers representing me in my vioxx lawsuit say it has to be a heart attack, not a PE.

Isn't a heart attack part of a PE?  Rather, did I suffer a heart attack as well as a pulmonary embolism?

[Douglas Bogart, MD]

A pulmonary embolus is not a heart attack and they are not related to each other.

[mckey]

I have been feeling a sticking like pain in my left chest on and off for about 8 days.  I went to the ER and was diagnosed with a PE in my right lung.  Are the two related?

[Douglas Bogart, MD]

They may be related and but the pain from a PE is generally made worse by a deep breath and it is a sharp pain.