A 59-year-old woman comes to the emergency department with a…
A 59-year-old woman comes to the emergency department with an acute onset of shortness of breath. She states to the attending physicians that she recently sustained a fractured bone and has had slightly elevated blood pressure for several years. A lung scan demonstrates a perfusion defect in the lower right lobe. Which of the following occurs if blood flow to the alveolar units in the region of the perfusion defect is totally obstructed by a pulmonary embolism?