Presenting features of patients with pulmonary emboli [Abstract]

Fennerty, A., Shetty, H., Payton, D., Routledge, Philip Alexander and Campbell, Ian A. 1987. Presenting features of patients with pulmonary emboli [Abstract]. Thorax 42 (3) , p. 229. 10.1136/thx.42.3.207

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Abstract

The presenting features of 100 patients with pulmonary emboli (PE) diagnosed by ventilation perfusion scanning were reviewed. The most frequent symptoms were pleuritic chest pain, 6201., and dyspnoea, 59%, cough and haemoptysis occuring in 30% and 26'!.. Chest pains were the only symptom in 19% and dyspnoea in 9%. Ten per cent presented with features of a chest infection and only one subject was clinically shocked. Physical signs were generally unhelpful in making the diagnosis. Examination was normal in 27%, 29% had a tachycardia, 26% crackles and only 10% had a pleural rub. Localised tenderness was present in 6%. The chest radiograph was normal in 38%, the commonest abnormalities being consolidation, 27%, and effusion, 26%. The ECG was abnormal in 60';., the commonest abnormality being T wave changes, 20%; the S1Q3T3 pattern occurring in only 3%. When blood gases were measured the Pao2 was less than 80 mm Hg in 70%. Only 15% of patients were free from any associated disease or risk factors for PE. Chronic obstructive lung disease was the commonest associated disease, 21%, and 19% were post-operative. Forty-two per cent were current smokers and 27% ex-smokers of at least two years' duration. The drugs most frequently used prior to the PE were diuretics 18% and corticosteroids 12%.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	Published
Schools:	Medicine Pharmacy
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine
Additional Information:	Proceedings of the British Thoracic Society. 1986 winter meeting. 11-12 December 1986, London. Abstracts.
Publisher:	BMJ
ISSN:	0040-6376
Last Modified:	04 Jun 2017 03:29
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/21936

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