title: Diagnosis of right ventricular dysfunction in acute pulmonary embolism using helical computed tomography.
abstract: Forty-six consecutive patients with pulmonary embolism (PE) who underwent pulmonary angiography, helical computed tomography (CT), and echocardiography in the investigators' emergency department were studied. It was determined that the CT right ventricular (RV)/left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic area ratio was correlated with PE obstruction and echocardiography. A CT RV/LV area ratio >1 had a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 88% in diagnosing significant PE. The present study suggests that helical CT may be used as a triage tool in acute PE for selecting high-risk patients, using calculation of the RV/LV area ratio to detect RV dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Department, Hôpital Universitaire Ambroise Paré, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Boulogne, France. nicolas.mansencal@apr.ap-hop-paris.fr <nicolas.mansencal@apr.ap-hop-paris.fr>
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mansencal
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Joseph
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vieillard-Baron
authors.forename: Soline
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Langlois
authors.forename: Mostafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El Hajjam
authors.forename: Salah D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Qanadli
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lacombe
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jardin
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Dubourg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000792:Angiography; D004452:Echocardiography; D004638:Emergency Treatment; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018497:Ventricular Dysfunction, Right / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology