Evaluation of CTPA interpreted as limited in pregnant patients suspected for pulmonary embolism

• Published in: Emergency radiology 2020-04, Vol.27 (2), p.165-171
• Main Authors: Cohen, S . L., Wang, J., Mankerian, M., Feizullayeva, C., McCandlish, J. A., Barnaby, D., Sanelli, P., McGinn, T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Age; Age Factors; Angiography; Bivariate analysis; Body Size; Computed Tomography Angiography; Continuity (mathematics); Embolisms; Emergency Medicine; Evaluation; Female; Humans; Imaging; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Multivariate analysis; Original Article; Patients; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular - diagnostic imaging; Pregnancy Trimesters; Pulmonary Embolism - diagnostic imaging; Pulmonary embolisms; Radiographs; Radiology; Regression analysis
• ISSN: 1070-3004; 1438-1435
• DOI: 10.1007/s10140-019-01728-6

Purpose The purpose of this study is to determine the rates of CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) interpreted as limited and severely limited in pregnant patients suspected for pulmonary embolism (PE), and to evaluate factors that influence these rates. Methods This is a retrospective study with CTPA for evaluation of PE in pregnancy across a large health system from 2006 to 2017. CTPA was classified as limited from the radiology report with a subset of those studies classified as severely limited. Bivariate and multivariate analysis was performed for limited and severely limited rates with maternal age and patient size as a continuous variable and race, trimester, patient location study priority status, and result of chest radiograph before CTPA as categorical variables. Results 874 patients with 33% of studies limited and 4% of studies severely limited. Multivariate logistic regression of CTPA studies revealed decreasing patient age (OR 0.967, p  = 0.0129) and increasing patient size (OR 1.013, p