Low Detection Rate of Pulmonary Embolism in Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department With Suspected Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Single-Centre UK Study

Critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are at increased risk of thrombosis. There are limited data on PE rates in COVID-19 patients at presentation to the emergency department (ED). In this study, we evaluated the detection rates of PE in patients presenting to the ED with...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current problems in diagnostic radiology 2021-09, Vol.50 (5), p.656-661
Main Authors: Birk, Rubinder, Shaw, Dominick, Kennedy, Cheika, Higashi, Yutaro, Patel, Roma, Gupta, Ayushman, Au-Yong, Iain
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Computed Tomography Angiography
COVID-19 - complications
Critical Illness
Emergency Service, Hospital
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral - complications
Pneumonia, Viral - virology
Pulmonary Embolism - diagnostic imaging
Retrospective Studies
SARS-CoV-2
Triage
United Kingdom
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are at increased risk of thrombosis. There are limited data on PE rates in COVID-19 patients at presentation to the emergency department (ED). In this study, we evaluated the detection rates of PE in patients presenting to the ED with suspected and proven COVID-19. A single-centre retrospective study was undertaken of 285 consecutive patients undergoing CT pulmonary angiogram (CTPA) in the Emergency Department at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust in the United Kingdom between 25 March and 30 April 2020. At our institution, CTPA is performed in all patients undergoing CT for triage. The study group consisted of patients considered COVID-19 positive based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results and CTPA findings. The detection rate of PE in COVID-19 patients was compared to patients undergoing CTPA for suspected PE only and for suspected COVID-19 with no COVID CT findings and negative PCR (control group 1); and CTPAs prior to the coronavirus pandemic (control group 2). One of 48 patients in the study group had a PE (2%) compared to 25/215 (12%) in control group 1 and 10/50 (20%) in control group 2. Prevalence of PE in the study group was lower than in control group 1 (P = 0.058) and compared to control group 2 (P = 0.005). Eleven patients undergoing CTPA had negative PCR but positive CT for COVID-19. Detection rate of pulmonary embolus is low in patients with COVID-19 undergoing CTPA on a triage pathway.
ISSN:0363-0188
1535-6302
DOI:10.1067/j.cpradiol.2020.09.014