COVID-19 associated pulmonary embolism: clinical, biochemical and CT imaging findings
Publicado en línea: 19 abr 2024
Páginas: -
Recibido: 20 ene 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/rjim-2024-0017
Palabras clave
© 2024 Eduard Dumea et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Introduction:
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection represented a disruptive pathology that emerged in late 2019 with profound implications ranging from individual health to health systems and world economy. Our study aimed to evaluate clinical, biochemical and computerized tomography (CT) parameters values in determining the severity of pulmonary embolism (PE) associated with COVID-19.
Methods
We performed an observational cohort study evaluating demographic, clinical, biochemical, coagulation markers, as well as CT imaging parameters.
Results
In our study on 186 patients with COVID-19, we found that 31 patients (16,66%) had pulmonary embolism. Significant correlations for the patients with PE were detected in C-reactive protein, lactate dehydrogenase, serum ferritin, IL-6, serum myoglobin, NT-proBNP, D-dimers, serum proteins, transaminases as well as white cell blood counts. Patients with pulmonary embolism had a more severe lung involvement, with thrombi distribution mainly involving the lower lobes.
Conclusion
Early identification of PE is an important step for timely and efficient treatment in the intensive care management of COVID-19 patients. Our study showed that high plasmatic values of lactate dehydrogenase, ferritin, IL-6, white blood cells and D-dimers and low proteins serum levels are strongly linked with COVID-19-associated pulmonary embolism.