Is a blood clot in the lung absorbed or does it dissolve?

Over time, the body will re-model the fibrin clot (an insoluble protein that is produced in response to bleeding and is the major component of the blood clot) termed “fibrinolysis” with retraction of the clot into the blood vessel wall, this happens for most blood clots. That is why it is uncommon to obtain a repeat CT scan of the lungs particularly since over 4-12 weeks the chest pain and shortness of breath usually resolves for most patients.