Prevalence of Pulmonary Embolism among Patients Hospitalized for Syncope
Paolo Prandoni, Anthonie W A Lensing, Martin H Prins, Maurizio Ciammaichella, Marica Perlati, Nicola Mumoli, Eugenio Bucherini, Adriana Visonà, Carlo Bova, Davide Imberti, Stefano Campostrini, Sofia Barbar, PESIT Investigators, P Prandoni, A W A Lensing, I Di Pasquale, L Filippi, M J Fabià, A Scudeller, F Bilora, M Ciammaichella, R Maida, A Ulissi, G De Paola, M Perlati, S Barbar, N Mumoli, J Vitale, S Sabatini, F Malvaldi, E Bucherini, E Carioli, A Visonà, B Zalunardo, D Imberti, R Benedetti, C Bova, A Noto, F Violi, G Barillari, W Ageno, Paolo Prandoni, Anthonie W A Lensing, Martin H Prins, Maurizio Ciammaichella, Marica Perlati, Nicola Mumoli, Eugenio Bucherini, Adriana Visonà, Carlo Bova, Davide Imberti, Stefano Campostrini, Sofia Barbar, PESIT Investigators, P Prandoni, A W A Lensing, I Di Pasquale, L Filippi, M J Fabià, A Scudeller, F Bilora, M Ciammaichella, R Maida, A Ulissi, G De Paola, M Perlati, S Barbar, N Mumoli, J Vitale, S Sabatini, F Malvaldi, E Bucherini, E Carioli, A Visonà, B Zalunardo, D Imberti, R Benedetti, C Bova, A Noto, F Violi, G Barillari, W Ageno
Abstract
Background: The prevalence of pulmonary embolism among patients hospitalized for syncope is not well documented, and current guidelines pay little attention to a diagnostic workup for pulmonary embolism in these patients.
Methods: We performed a systematic workup for pulmonary embolism in patients admitted to 11 hospitals in Italy for a first episode of syncope, regardless of whether there were alternative explanations for the syncope. The diagnosis of pulmonary embolism was ruled out in patients who had a low pretest clinical probability, which was defined according to the Wells score, in combination with a negative d-dimer assay. In all other patients, computed tomographic pulmonary angiography or ventilation-perfusion lung scanning was performed.
Results: A total of 560 patients (mean age, 76 years) were included in the study. A diagnosis of pulmonary embolism was ruled out in 330 of the 560 patients (58.9%) on the basis of the combination of a low pretest clinical probability of pulmonary embolism and negative d-dimer assay. Among the remaining 230 patients, pulmonary embolism was identified in 97 (42.2%). In the entire cohort, the prevalence of pulmonary embolism was 17.3% (95% confidence interval, 14.2 to 20.5). Evidence of an embolus in a main pulmonary or lobar artery or evidence of perfusion defects larger than 25% of the total area of both lungs was found in 61 patients. Pulmonary embolism was identified in 45 of the 355 patients (12.7%) who had an alternative explanation for syncope and in 52 of the 205 patients (25.4%) who did not.
Conclusions: Pulmonary embolism was identified in nearly one of every six patients hospitalized for a first episode of syncope. (Funded by the University of Padua; PESIT ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01797289 .).
Source: PubMed