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The prevalence of pulmonary embolism among patients suffering from acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Emergency Radiology volume 22, pages 257–260 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

The clinical diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism (PE) in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is often difficult due to the similarity in the presenting symptoms of the two conditions. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of PE in patients with acute exacerbation of COPD. Forty-nine consecutive patients admitted to our medical center for acute exacerbation of COPD were investigated for PE (whether or not clinically suspected), following a standardized algorithm based on D-dimer testing and computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA). PE was ruled out by a D-dimer value <500 μg/L in 20 (41 %) patients and by negative CTPA in 40 (82 %). PE was confirmed in 9 patients. The prevalence of PE was 18 %. One patient with normal D-dimer had PE. Presenting symptoms and signs were similar between patients who did and did not have PE. PE was detected in 18 % of COPD patients who were hospitalized for an acute exacerbation. This finding supports the systematic evaluation of PE in hospitalized COPD exacerbated patients.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Hillel Yaffe Medical Center, P.O.B. 169, Hadera, 38100, Israel

    Mika Shapira-Rootman, Uri Soimu, Alicia Nachtigal & Abdel-Rauf Zeina

  2. Department of Internal Medicine A, Hillel Yaffe Medical Center, Hadera, Israel

    Marinella Beckerman

  3. Faculty of Medicine, Technion- Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

    Mika Shapira-Rootman, Marinella Beckerman, Uri Soimu, Alicia Nachtigal & Abdel-Rauf Zeina

Authors
  1. Mika Shapira-Rootman
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  2. Marinella Beckerman
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  3. Uri Soimu
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  4. Alicia Nachtigal
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  5. Abdel-Rauf Zeina
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Correspondence to Abdel-Rauf Zeina.

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Shapira-Rootman, M., Beckerman, M., Soimu, U. et al. The prevalence of pulmonary embolism among patients suffering from acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Emerg Radiol 22, 257–260 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10140-014-1280-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10140-014-1280-7

Keywords

  • Pulmonary embolism
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
  • Exacerbation
  • D-dimer
  • Pulmonary CTA