Acute Pulmonary Embolism and 1-Year Outcome: An Epidemiological Study in East of Iran, 2011-2016

Pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) is a major health problem worldwide. The present study was conducted to investigate epidemiology of acute PTE and its outcomes in Birjand city, locating in South Khorasan, Iran.

In this descriptive epidemiological study, 79 patients with PTE referred to Vali-Asr Hospital, Birjand, Iran were studied during 2011 - 2016. In this study, demographic data, medical history, risk factors, symptoms, and information on diagnostic methods including echocardiography findings, electrocardiographic findings, treatment procedure, duration of hospitalization, and therapeutic outcomes were collected in information form for each patient. One year later, the patients were re-visited, and echocardiography was performed for all the subjects. Finally, data were analyzed by Chi-Square and Fisher's exact tests at a significant level of 0.05 using SPSS software.

Results showed that annual incidence of PTE was 5.7 per 100,000 people in Birjand in 2016. History of recent surgery (18.8%) followed by hospitalization, and complete bed rest for more than 3 days (15.7%) were the most common risk factors. More than 78% of patients with PTE had abnormal echocardiography, and pulmonary arterial hypertension was the most common finding. Results of statistical analysis showed that complications were not statistically significant according to age and gender of patients (P < 0.05), but complications were higher in patients with massive PTE compared to others (P = 0.01). Comparison of in-hospital complications showed a significant difference between different treatment modalities (P < 0.01).

History of recent surgery and hospitalization were the most common predisposing factors for PTE. Therefore, necessary programs should be more vigorously pursued for prevention of PTE.