Clinical Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 Acute Pulmonary Embolism and Adjusted D-dimer for Emergency Department Patients

Introduction:Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and acute pulmonary embolism (APE) present a diagnostic challenge in the emergency department (ED) setting. We aimed to identify key clinical characteristics and D-dimer thresholds associated with APE in SARS-CoV-2 positive ED patients.Methods: We performed a multicenter, retrospective cohort study for adult patients who were diagnosed with coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) and had computed tomography pulmonary angiogram (CTPA) performed between March 17, 2020 –January 31, 2021. We performed univariate analysis to determine numeric medians, chi-square values for association between clinical characteristic and positive CTPA. Logistic regression was used to determine the odds of a clinical characteristic being associated with a diagnosis of APE.Results:Of 408 patients who underwent CTPA, 29 (7.1%) were ultimately found to have APE. In multivariable...
Source: Western Journal of Emergency Medicine - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Source Type: research