Abstract
Background and aims
Although syncope (S) has been reported as one of the presenting findings in patients (pts) with acute pulmonary embolism (APE), its clinical and haemodynamic correlates and impacts on the long-term outcome in this setting remains to be determined. In this single-centre study we evaluated the clinical and haemodynamic significance of S in APE in initial asessment, and during short- and long-term follow-up period.
Methods
Our study was based on the retrospective and prospective analysis of the overall 641 pts (age 65 (51–74 IQR) yrs, 56.2% female) with diagnosis of documented APE who underwent anticoagulant (n=207), thrombolytic (n=164), utrasound-facilitated thrombolysis (UFT) (n=218) or rheolytic thrombectomy (RT) (n=52). The systematic work- up including multidetector computed tomography (MDCT), Echo, biomarkers, and PE severity indexes were performed in all pts, and Qanadli score (QS) was used as the measure of the thrombotic burden in the pulmonary arteries (PA).
Results
The S as the presenting symptom In 30.2% of pts with APE. At baseline assessment, S(+) vs S(−) APE subgroups had a significantly shorter symptom-diagnosis interval, a higher risk status according to the significant elevations in troponin T, D-dimer, the higher PE severity indexes, a more deteriorated right ventricle/left ventricle ratio (RV/LV r), right atrial/left atrial ratio (LA/RAr) and RV longitudinal function indexes including tricuspid annular planary excursion (TAPSE) and tissue velocity (St), a significantly higher PA obstructive burden as assessed by QS and PA pressures. Thrombolytic therapy (36.2% vs 21%, p<0.001) and RT (11.9% vs 6.47%, p=0.037) were more frequently utilized S(+) as compared to S(−) group. However, all these differences between two subgroups were found to disappear after evidence-based APE treatments. In-hospital mortality (IHM) (12.95% vs 6%, p=0.007) and minor bleeding (10.36% vs 2.9%, p<0.001) were significantly higher in S(+) pts as compared to those in S(−) subgroup. Binominal logistic regression analysis revealed that PESI score and RV/LVr independently associated with S while IHM was only predicted by age and heart rate. The COX proportional hazard method showed that RV/LVr at discharge and malignancy were independently associated with cumulative mortality during follow-up duration of 620 (200–1170 IQ) days.
Conclusions
The presence of S in pts with APE was found to be asociated with a higher PA obstructive burden, a more deteriorated RV function and haemodynamics and higher risk status which may need more agressive reperfusion treatments. However, in the presence of the optimal treatments, S did not predict neither in-hospital outcome, nor long-term mortality.
Funding Acknowledgement
Type of funding source: None
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