BACKGROUND: the incidence of pulmonary embolism increases with age but the 'classical' presentation of acute pulmonary embolism may not occur in older persons. OBJECTIVES: to compare the clinical presentation of younger and older patients with acute pulmonary embolism. DESIGN: retrospective identification of 60 consecutive cases of spiral computed tomography confirmed acute pulmonary embolism over a 3-year period, with blinded review of radiological films and electrocardiographs, and analysis of clinical presentation. SETTING: a district general hospital serving a population of 200,000 people. SUBJECTS: 31 younger and 29 older patients with acute pulmonary embolism. RESULTS: older persons less often complained of pleuritic chest pain (P < 0.02), particularly as their primary presenting complaint (P < 0.002). Twenty-four percent of older but just 3% of younger persons presented with collapse (P < 0.02), despite similar proportions of central and peripheral emboli in the two groups. Older persons were more often cyanosed (P = 0.05) and hypoxic (P < 0.04) than younger persons but there were no significant differences with respect to heart rate, respiratory rate or mean arterial blood pressure. CONCLUSIONS: older people present atypically with acute pulmonary embolism, potentially leading to delays in diagnosis and initiation of treatment. Collapse is a particularly important symptom of acute pulmonary embolism in older persons, even in the absence of pain.
BACKGROUND: the incidence of pulmonary embolism increases with age but the 'classical' presentation of acute pulmonary embolism may not occur in older persons. OBJECTIVES: to compare the clinical presentation of younger and older patients with acute pulmonary embolism. DESIGN: retrospective identification of 60 consecutive cases of spiral computed tomography confirmed acute pulmonary embolism over a 3-year period, with blinded review of radiological films and electrocardiographs, and analysis of clinical presentation. SETTING: a district general hospital serving a population of 200,000 people. SUBJECTS: 31 younger and 29 older patients with acute pulmonary embolism. RESULTS: older persons less often complained of pleuritic chest pain (P < 0.02), particularly as their primary presenting complaint (P < 0.002). Twenty-four percent of older but just 3% of younger persons presented with collapse (P < 0.02), despite similar proportions of central and peripheral emboli in the two groups. Older persons were more often cyanosed (P = 0.05) and hypoxic (P < 0.04) than younger persons but there were no significant differences with respect to heart rate, respiratory rate or mean arterial blood pressure. CONCLUSIONS: older people present atypically with acute pulmonary embolism, potentially leading to delays in diagnosis and initiation of treatment. Collapse is a particularly important symptom of acute pulmonary embolism in older persons, even in the absence of pain.
Authors: Gilson Soares Feitosa-Filho; José Maria Peixoto; José Elias Soares Pinheiro; Abrahão Afiune Neto; Afonso Luiz Tavares de Albuquerque; Álvaro César Cattani; Amit Nussbacher; Ana Amelia Camarano; Angela Hermínia Sichinels; Antonio Carlos Sobral Sousa; Aristóteles Comte de Alencar Filho; Claudia F Gravina; Dario Celestino Sobral Filho; Eduardo Pitthan; Elisa Franco de Assis Costa; Elizabeth da Rosa Duarte; Elizabete Viana de Freitas; Emilio Hideyuki Moriguchi; Evandro Tinoco Mesquita; Fábio Fernandes; Gilson Soares Feitosa; Humberto Pierre; Ilnei Pereira Filho; Izo Helber; Jairo Lins Borges; Jéssica Myrian de Amorim Garcia; José Antonio Gordillo de Souza; José Carlos da Costa Zanon; Josmar de Castro Alves; Kalil Lays Mohallem; Laura Mariana de Siqueira Mendonça Chaves; Lídia Ana Zytynski Moura; Márcia Cristina Amélia da Silva; Maria Alice de Vilhena Toledo; Maria Elisa Lucena Sales de Melo Assunção; Mauricio Wajngarten; Mauro José Oliveira Gonçalves; Neuza Helena Moreira Lopes; Nezilour Lobato Rodrigues; Paulo Roberto Pereira Toscano; Pedro Rousseff; Ricardo Antonio Rosado Maia; Roberto Alexandre Franken; Roberto Dischinger Miranda; Roberto Gamarski; Ronaldo Fernandes Rosa; Silvio Carlos de Moraes Santos; Siulmara Cristina Galera; Stela Maris da Silva Grespan; Teresa Cristina Rogerio da Silva; William Antonio de Magalhães Esteves Journal: Arq Bras Cardiol Date: 2019-06-06 Impact factor: 2.000