INCIDENTAL PULMONARY EMBOLISMS IN CT ANGIOGRAMS IN PATIENTS IMAGED AS PER STROKE CODE PROTOCOL: INCIDENCE AND DETECTION RATE
Abdul Rehman AlMutairi*, Syed Zubair Ayoub, Mohammed AlAhmadi, Yasir AlJadhi and Sofia Muzafer
ABSTRACT
PE is a preventable cause of death among hospitalized patients. The mortality related to PE can be as high as 24% but early treatment is highly effective. A standard CTA stroke protocol examines the neurovasculature from the aortic arch to the vertex of the head, providing additional information on the angiography of the upper lobes of the lung including the hilum. Our study is a hospital based retrospective study, about 327 CT scans were studied done over a period of 3 months with properly followed CT stroke code protocol as per the department policy. Out of the studied 327 cases, 322 (98.5%) were negative and 5 (1.5%) cases were positive. Out of the 5 positive cases 3 (0.9 %) were detected by the first reporting neuroradiologist and 2 (0.6%) were missed on initial reporting. These 2 cases were retrospectively detected by the team which consisted of two neuroradiologist, a fellow and a 3rd year resident.
[Full Text Article] [Download Certificate]