Correlation between the embolism area and pulmonary arterial systolic pressure as an indicator of pulmonary arterial hypertension in patients with acute pulmonary thromboembolism.

OBJECTIVE We tested whether correlation between embolism area and pulmonary arterial pressure may serve as an indicator of pulmonary arterial hypertension in patients with acute pulmonary thromboembolism. PATIENTS AND METHODS In total, 204 patients who underwent spiral computed tomography (CT) pulmonary angiography and ultrasonic cardiogram were enrolled. The patients were stratified according to their pulmonary arterial systolic pressure into those with normal values, or those with mild, moderate, or severe pulmonary arterial hypertension. The embolism area was quantified using Qanadli score. RESULTS We found that embolism area correlated positively with pulmonary arterial systolic pressure (r = 0.514). Specifically, embolism areas of four study groups were, respectively, 17.72 ± 13.61%, 18.25 ± 13.78%, 33.39 ± 10.99%, 40.46 ± 15.75%, obviously increasing along with progression of the disease. Pulmonary arterial systolic pressure was above 41 mm Hg when the embolism area was >33%, and above 70 mm Hg with the embolism area of > 40%. CONCLUSIONS Assessment of the embolism area is useful in the clinical evaluation of pulmonary arterial systolic pressure, but appears to be more applicable to moderate and severe pulmonary arterial hypertension.