Pulmonary Artery Pressure in Predicting Pulmonary Embolism in Patients Presenting To The Emergency Department With Dyspnea

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a significant clinical condition requiring rapid diagnosis, with high mortality and morbidity, in patients presenting to the emergency department with shortness of breath. The chronic presence of dyspnea, particularly in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, and similar cardiopulmonary diseases, makes it difficult to differentiate PE in the acute phase. In this patient group, pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) values measured by echocardiography can provide important clinical information in the diagnostic process. The aim of this study is to determine the usability of echocardiographic PAP changes obtained from emergency department records in the early risk stratification of pulmonary embolism.

Inclusion criteria

• Presenting to the emergency department with dyspnea between the specified dates,
• Being 18 years of age or older,
• Being evaluated in the emergency department with a preliminary diagnosis of pulmonary embolism,
• Having a recorded pulmonary artery pressure measurement at the time of hospital admission,
• Having a previous pulmonary artery pressure measurement in the patient's records,
• Having sufficient and complete clinical, laboratory, imaging, and echocardiography data available for the study.

Exclusion criteria

• Patients under 18 years of age,
• Lack of pulmonary artery pressure data from the time of emergency admission or from the previous period,
• Lack of necessary clinical, laboratory, or imaging data for pulmonary embolism evaluation,
• In cases of repeated admissions for the same patient, only the first suitable admission will be considered; other admissions will be excluded from the study,
• Patients whose data is unavailable in the record system or whose data is insufficient to be analyzed for research purposes.Inclusion Criteria for the Study