Peak systolic velocity of tricuspid annulus is inferior to tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion for 30 days prediction of adverse outcome in acute pulmonary embolism.

BACKGROUND: Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) is an established index of right ventricular (RV) systolic function and a significant predictor in normotensive patients with pulmonary embolism (PE). Recently, Doppler tissue imaging-derived tricuspid annular systolic velocity (TV S'), a modern parameter of RV function was reported to be useful in the diagnosis and prognosis of a broad spectrum of heart diseases. Therefore, herein, is an analysis of the prognostic value of both parameters in normotensive PE patients. METHODS: One hundred and thirty nine consecutive PE patients (76 female, age 56.4 ± 19.5 years) were included in this study. All patients were initially anticoagulated. Transthoracic echocardiography was performed on admission. The study endpoint (SE) was defined as PE-related 30-day mortality and/or need for rescue thrombolysis. RESULTS: Seven (5%) patients who met the criteria for SE presented more severe RV dysfunction at echocardiography. Univariable Cox regression analysis showed that RV/LV ratio predicted SE with hazard risk (HR) 10.6 (1.4-80.0; p = 0.02); TAPSE and TV S' showed HR 0.77 (0.67-0.89), p < 0.001, and 0.71 (0.52-0.97), p = 0.03, respectively. Area under the curve for TAPSE in the prediction of SE was 0.881; 95% CI 0.812-0.932, p = 0.0001, for TV S' was 0.751; 95% CI 0.670-0.820, p = 0.001. Multivariable analysis showed that the optimal prediction model included TAPSE and systolic blood pressure (SBP showed HR 0.89 95% CI 0.83-0.95, p < 0.001 and TAPSE HR 0.67, 95% CI 0.52-0.87, p<0.03). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that initially PE patients with TAPSE ≥ 18 mm had a much more favorable prognosis that patients with TAPSE < 18 mm (p < 0.01), while analysis of S' was only of borderline statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: It seems that TV S' is inferior to TAPSE for 30 day prediction of adverse outcome in acute pulmonary embolism.

d-Dimer Assessment Improves the Simplified Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index for In-Hospital Risk Stratification in Acute Pulmonary Embolism.

d-dimer (DD) levels are used in the diagnostic workup of suspected acute pulmonary embolism (APE), but data on DD for early risk stratification in APE are limited. In this post hoc analysis of a prospective observational study of 270 consecutive patients, we aimed to optimize the discriminant capacity of the simplified pulmonary embolism severity index (sPESI), an APE risk assessment score currently used, by combining it with DD for in-hospital adverse event prediction. We found that DD levels were higher in patients with complicated versus benign clinical course 7.2 mg/L (25th-75th percentile: 4.5-27.7 mg/L) versus 5.1 mg/L (25th-75th percentile: 2.1-11.2 mg/L), P = .004. The area under the curve of DD for serious adverse event (SAE) was 0.672, P = .003. d-dimer =1.35 mg/L showed 100% negative predictive value for SAE and identified 11 sPESI ≥1 patients with a benign clinical course, detecting the 1 patient with SAE from sPESI = 0. d-dimer >15 mg/L showed heart rate for SAE 3.04 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1-9). A stratification model which with sPESI + DD >1.35 mg/L demonstrated improved prognostic value when compared to sPESI alone (net reclassification improvement: 0.085, P = .04). d-dimer have prognostic value, values <1.35 mg/L identify patients with a favorable outcome, improving the prognostic potential of sPESI, while DD >15 mg/L is an independent predictor of SAE.

Age­adjusted plasma D­dimer levels in suspected acute pulmonary embolism: a retrospective, single­center study.

INTRODUCTION The conventional D­dimer threshold (CDD) is characterized by high sensitivity and low specificity in diagnosing acute pulmonary embolism (PE) in older patients. A higher cut­off level for D­dimer has been proposed, aiming at increasing the specificity while maintaining high sensitivity. It is calculated by multiplying the patient's age in years by a coefficient of 10 (YADD10). OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to validate the clinical value of YADD10 in patients with suspected acute PE and to optimize this threshold to achieve increased specificity paired with high sensitivity. PATIENTS AND METHODS The medical records of 1022 patients with suspected acute PE, hospitalized between the years 2014 and 2016, were retrospectively analyzed. Patients older than 50 years, with complete medical records and good quality of multislice computed tomography (CT) scans were enrolled. The sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, positive predictive value, and accuracy of the proposed thresholds were calculated and compared with those of the CCD. The number of computed tomography scans that could have been avoided with higher thresholds was determined. RESULTS The final analysis included 321 patients (176 women; mean age, 74.2 years; range, 51-101 years). Acute PE was confirmed in 135 patients. The sensitivity of CDD was 100%, and specificity-5.4%. The use of the YADD10 and YADD11 thresholds (obtained by multiplying by the coefficients of 10 and 11, respectively) resulted in maintaining high sensitivity, with increased specificity of 8.6% (YADD10) and 12.4% (YADD11). The number of unnecessary CT scans was reduced by 7%. CONCLUSIONS The YADD thresholds are characterized by high sensitivity and increased specificity when compared with CDD, thus allowing for a safe reduction of the number of CT scans. A prospective study should be conducted to validate these results.

Echocardiographic Pattern of Acute Pulmonary Embolism: Analysis of 511 Consecutive Patients.

BACKGROUND: There is no comprehensive analysis of transthoracic echocardiographic findings of pulmonary embolism (PE). The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of right ventricular (RV) dysfunction (RVD), typical echocardiographic signs of acute PE (TES), and incidental abnormalities. METHODS: A single-center, retrospective analysis was conducted of 511 consecutive patients (281 women; mean age, 64.0 ± 18.6 years) with PE confirmed by contrast-enhanced multidetector computed tomography who underwent transthoracic echocardiography for the assessment of left ventricular and RV alterations. The McConnell sign, the "60/60" sign, and right heart thrombus were regarded as TES. RVD included RV free wall hypokinesis and RV to LV end-diastolic ratio > 0.9. Incidental echocardiographic alterations were also reported. RESULTS: RV enlargement, RV free wall hypokinesis, and interventricular septal flattening were found in 27.4%, 26.6%, and 18.4% of patients, respectively. Tricuspid regurgitation peak systolic gradient > 30 mmHg and pulmonary ejection acceleration time < 80 msec were measured in 46.6% and 37.2% of patients, respectively. RVD was found in 20.0% of patients, while normal RV function was present in 33.4% of patients. The McConnell sign, 60/60 sign, and right heart thrombus were found in 19.8%, 12.9%, 1.8% of subjects, respectively. All 16 hemodynamically unstable patients with PE presented enlarged hypokinetic right ventricle and at least one TES. However, in three of them, RV to LV end-diastolic ratio was <0.9. Incidental abnormalities were found in 9.6% of 364 stable patients with PE without RVD and TES. CONCLUSIONS: Transthoracic echocardiography showed no significant abnormalities suggestive of PE in 71% of patients with PE, while in approximately 10%, transthoracic echocardiography revealed incidental findings. The coexistence of an enlarged hypokinetic right ventricle with the McConnell sign together with the 60/60 sign seems to be the most useful echocardiographic criterion for RVD.

Outcome of patients with right heart thrombi: the Right Heart Thrombi European Registry.

Our aim was the assessment of the prognostic significance of right heart thrombi (RiHT) and their characteristics in pulmonary embolism in relation to established prognostic factors.138 patients (69 females) aged (mean±sd) 62±19 years with RiHT were included into a multicenter registry. A control group of 276 patients without RiHT was created by propensity scoring from a cohort of 963 contemporary patients. The primary end-point was 30-day pulmonary embolism-related mortality; the secondary end-point included 30-day all-cause mortality. In RiHT patients, pulmonary embolism mortality was higher in 31 patients with systolic blood pressure <90 mmHg than in 107 normotensives (42% versus 12%, p=0.0002) and was higher in the 83 normotensives with right ventricular dysfunction (RVD) than in the 24 normotensives without RVD (16% versus 0%, p=0.038). In multivariable analysis the simplified Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index predicted mortality (hazard ratio 2.43, 95% CI 1.58-3.73; p<0.0001), while RiHT characteristics did not. Patients with RiHT had higher pulmonary embolism mortality than controls (19% versus 8%, p=0.003), especially normotensive patients with RVD (16% versus 7%, p=0.02).30-day mortality in patients with RiHT is related to haemodynamic consequences of pulmonary embolism and not to RiHT characteristics. However, patients with RiHT and pulmonary embolism resulting in RVD seem to have worse prognosis than propensity score-matched controls.

Plasma copeptin for short term risk stratification in acute pulmonary embolism.

Copeptin (COP) was reported to have prognostic value in various cardiovascular diseases. We hypothesized that COP levels reflect the severity of acute pulmonary embolism (PE) and may be useful in prognostic assessment. Plasma COP concentrations were measured on the Kryptor Compact Plus platform (BRAHMS, Hennigsdorf, Germany). The study included 107 consecutive patients with diagnosed acute PE (47 males, 60 females), with median age of 65 years (range 20-88). High risk PE was diagnosed in 3 patients (2.8 %), intermediate risk in 69 (64.5 %), and low risk PE in 35 (32.7 %) patients. Control group included 64 subjects (25 males, 39 females; median age 52.5 year, range 17-87). Four patients (3.7 %) died during 30-day observation. Complicated clinical course (CCC) was experienced by 10 (9.3 %) patients. COP level was higher in PE patients than in controls [11.55 pmol/L (5.16-87.97), and 19.00 pmol/L (5.51-351.90), respectively, p < 0.0001], and reflected PE severity. COP plasma concentration in low risk PE was 14.67 nmol/L (5.51-59.61) and in intermediate/high risk PE 19.84 mol/L (5.64-351.90) p < 0.05. Median COP levels in nonsurvivors was higher than in survivors, 84.6 (28.48-351.9) pmol/L and 18.68 (5.512-210.1) pmol/L, respectively, p = 0.009. Subjects with CCC presented higher COP levels than patients with benign clinical course 53.1 (17.95-351.9) pmol/L and 18.16 (5.51-210.1) pmol/L, respectively, p = 0.001. Log-transformed plasma COP was the significant predictor of CCC, OR 16.5 95 % CI 23.2-111.9, p < 0.001. AUC-for prediction of CCC using plasma COP was 0.811 (95 % CI 0.676-0.927). The COP cut off value of 17.95 nmol/l had sensitivity of 100 %, specificity 49.5 %, positive predictive value of 16.9 % and negative predictive value of 100 %. We conclude that plasma COP levels can be regarded for promising marker of severity of acute PE and show potential in risk stratification of these patients.

Patent foramen ovale increases the risk of acute ischemic stroke in patients with acute pulmonary embolism leading to right ventricular dysfunction.

BACKGROUND: Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is an established risk factor for ischemic stroke. Since acute right ventricular dysfunction (RVD) observed in patients with PE can lead to right-to-left inter-atrial shunt via PFO, we hypothesized that PFO is a risk factor for ischemic stroke in PE with significant right ventricular dysfunction. METHODS: 55 patients (31 F, 24M), median age 49 years (range 19-83 years) with confirmed PE underwent echocardiography for RVD and PFO assessment. High risk acute PE was diagnosed in 3 (5.5%) patients, while 16 (29%) hemodynamically stable with RVD patients formed a group with intermediate-risk PE. PFO was diagnosed in 19 patients (34.5%). Diffusion-weighted MRI of the brain for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) was performed in all patients 4.91 ± 4.1 days after admission. RESULTS: AIS was detected by MRI in 4 patients (7.3%). Only one stroke was clinically overt and resulted in hemiplegia. All 4 AIS occurred in the PFO positive group (4 of 19 patients), and none in subjects without PFO (21.0% vs 0%, p=0.02). Moreover, all AIS occurred in patients with RVD and PFO, and none in patients with PFO without RVD (50% vs 0%, p=0.038). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that acute pulmonary embolism resulting in right ventricular dysfunction may lead to acute ischemic stroke in patients with patent foramen ovale. However, the clinical significance of such lesions remains to be determined.