Previous studies have shown an incidence of saddle pulmonary embolism (SPE) ranging
between 6% to 9.1% in non-high-risk patients [
1
,
2
]. SPE is generally defined as a thromboembolus straddling the bifurcation of the main
pulmonary artery trunk. Conversely, central PE is diagnosed when thrombi are visualized
at computed tomography angiography (CTA) in the main trunk and/or in right or left
main pulmonary arteries [
[3]
]. Its real epidemiology has not yet been assessed since, very frequently, the diagnosis
is established at autopsy. As matter of fact, different studies have included SPE
patients into the more general group of “central embolism”, confounding the final
results [
[1]
]. As results, available data regarding the short-term outcome of SPE patients are
scant and controversial.Keywords
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References
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- Saddle pulmonary embolism diagnosed by CT angiography: frequency, clinical features and outcome.Respir Med. 2007; 101: 1537-1542
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- 2014 ESC guidelines on the diagnosis and management of acute pulmonary embolism.Eur Heart J. 2014; 35: 3033-3069
- Saddle pulmonary embolism: is it as bad as it looks? A community hospital experience.Crit Care Med. 2011; 39: 2413-2418
- Prognostic importance of central thrombus in hemodynamically stable patients with pulmonary embolism.Cardiol J. 2017; ([Epub ahead of print])https://doi.org/10.5603/CJ.a2017.0021
- Multidetector CT scan for acute pulmonary embolism: embolic burden and clinical outcome.Chest. 2012; 142: 1417-1424
- Noninvasive diagnosis of suspected severe pulmonary embolism: transesophageal echocardiography vs spiral CT.Chest. 1997; 112: 722-728
- Fibrinolysis for patients with intermediate-risk pulmonary embolism.N Engl J Med. 2014; 370: 1402-1411
Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 07, 2017
Accepted:
September 4,
2017
Received:
August 20,
2017
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
