Diagnosis and Treatment of Acute Pulmonary Embolism: A Single Center Experience

Abstract

Aim: Pulmonary embolism is a potentially life-threatening cardiovascular disease frequently encountered in emergency departments. The computed tomography pulmonary angiography is the imaging modality of choice in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. This study aimed to examine the effects of clinical findings and treatment methods on prognosis and mortality by examining patients diagnosed with acute pulmonary embolism in the emergency department. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, records of patients with acute pulmonary embolism were accessed from the archive. Patients' age, gender, medical complaints, co-morbidities, the treatment method applied to the patients, and the clinical outcomes of the patients were analyzed. The statistical distribution of the patients' demographic and clinical information was calculated. Results: The most common complaint of 206 patients with acute pulmonary embolism was dyspnea. 25.7% patients had massive pulmonary embolism. The blood d-dimer, lactate and troponin T levels of patients with massive pulmonary embolism were found to be higher than patients with sub-massive pulmonary embolism. Thrombolytic therapy was administered to 6.8% of acute pulmonary embolism patients and it was found to be a method that had a statistically positive effect on survival. D-dimer, white blood cell, neutrophil, blood urea nitrogen, lactate and troponin T values were found to be higher in mortal patients. It was determined that 13.1% of the patients died. Conclusion: The sooner the early diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism, which can be mortal in the emergency department, is made and the treatment is started, the mortality rate will decrease significantly.