Pulmonary embolism associated with nephrotic syndrome in children: a preliminary report of 8 cases.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the incidence, clinical features of pulmonary embolism (PE) secondary to nephrotic syndrome(NS) in Chinese children.


METHODS
Pulmonary perfusion imaging (PPI) and chest radiography was performed on 20 NS patients with elevated plasma D-dimer. The patients with PE were given anticoagulative therapy with heparin and persantine.


RESULTS
Among 20 NS patients, eight cases, aged from 5 to 12 years, 6 boys and 2 girls, were found to have PE. Of them 5 were primary NS and 3 were secondary NS. PPI showed an involvement of 1 pulmonary segment in 3 cases, of 2 pulmonary segments in 2, of 3 pulmonary segments in 2, and of 6 pulmonary segments in 1. Most patients did not present clinical signs and symptoms. Two weeks after the administration of intravenous heparin for anticoagulative therapy, 6 out of 8 cases showed a recovery or an improvement.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study suggest that PE be not a rare complication in NS children. Most patients had no obvious clinical manifestation and their prognose was favorable if diagnosed and treated in time.
Huang
J
J
Department of Pediatric, First Hospital Affiliated Beijing Medical University, Beijing 100034, China.
Yang
J
J
Ding
J
J
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009404:Nephrotic Syndrome / Q000150:complications*; D011652:Pulmonary Circulation; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic
D005338:Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products; C036309:fibrin fragment D