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THE VALUE OF ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY IN PREDICTING PULMONARY THROMBOEMBOLIC DISEASE
  • +2
  • Vladimir Grigorov,
  • Jan Daniel Esser,
  • Mladen Grigorov,
  • Evgeni Grigorov,
  • Hristina Nocheva
Vladimir Grigorov
Johannesburg Hospital

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Jan Daniel Esser
Johannesburg Hospital
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Mladen Grigorov
University of Louisville Department of Medicine
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Evgeni Grigorov
Medicinski universitet Varna Prof d-r Paraskev Stoanov
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Hristina Nocheva
Medicinski universitet-Sofia Medicinskii fakultet
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Abstract

This is a 200 patient retrospective single-centre study focused on evaluating the contribution of echocardiography (Echo) findings as an initial screening tool in selecting intensive care unit (ICU) patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) for further diagnostic evaluation with ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) scintigraphy. A total of 200 patients with suspected PE were referred for a V/Q scan. Of these 24 had Еcho findings of a dilated right ventricle (RV). 8 of these 24 patients (33%) had a positive V/Q scan for PE. Seven of those 8 patients (88%) had large pulmonary emboli. Of the remaining 176 patients (without dilated RV) the V/Q scan was positive for pulmonary emboli in 39 cases (22%). If evaluating only the patients positive for pulmonary emboli on V/Q scan (47 patients), 8 of them (17%) had a dilated RV, and 39 (83%) did not have a dilated RV. Thus, we found Еcho mainly contributed to identifying patients with life threatening large pulmonary thrombo-embolic disease. In contrast to the above, echocardiography was non-contributory in the presence of small PE. This was in congruence with the existing literature.