MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19TH 2005

218. Advances in pulmonary radiology

P2061
Influence of clinical characteristics of pulmonary embolism (PE) patients on helical CT performance Luis Hernández1, Sergio Alonso2, Alejandro Muñoz1, Juan Arenas2, Santos Asensio1, Santiago Romero1 . 1Respiratory, Hospital General
Universitario, Alicante, Alicante, Spain; 2Radiology, Hospital General Universitario, Alicante, Alicante, Spain
Aims: To determine if the clinical characteristics of patients with acute PE,
stratified according to Stein’s syndromes (Chest 1997; 112: 974), influence the
diagnostic accuracy of helical CT. Methods: 275 patients (79% outpatients) with clinically suspected PE (mean age 66±15 years and 54% males) were included and prospectively followed up to 3 months. The localization of the PE was registered as the proximal limit of the emboli detected: Central PE (within main to lobar pulmonary arteries), and Peripheral PE (filling defects within segmental and subsegmental arteries).

Results: Helical CT correctly identified 79 of 95 patients with PE (83%). Among these 95 PE patients, 54% presented with the syndrome of pulmonary hemorrage or infarction; 26% with the syndrome of isolated dyspnea and 15% with circulatory collapse. Six patients were not symptomatic.