Analysis of Clinical and Radiological Findings in Oncology Patients Undergoing Thoracic Tomography for Suspected Pulmonary Embolism.

In the present study, we aimed to compare clinical and radiological findings between patients with and without pulmonary embolism (PE) and determine possible risk factors for PE development among patients with cancer. This was a retrospective study that examined the clinical features and tomographic findings of patients with cancer who underwent thoracic tomography for suspected PE. A total of 487 cases were included in the study. Of which, 45 (9.2%) patients were found to have PE. The effect of gender on PE was found to be significant (p = 0.018). Patients with PE compared to those without PE are 2.828 times more likely to be women than men. It was determined that the probability of not having a history of coronary artery disease (CAD) was 2.930 times (p = 0.036), probability of shortness of breath was 4.153 times (p < 0.001), syncope/presyncope was 6.859 times (p = 0.007), and palpitation was 5.613 times (p = 0.040) more in those with PE compared to those without PE. The mean pulse rate per minute was significantly higher in patients with PE than in those without (p = 0.009). Ninety-one percent of patients had parenchymal abnormalities, 43.7% had mediastinal and cardiovascular abnormalities, 35.5% had pleural abnormalities, 32.9% had thoracic wall abnormalities (p = 0.109, p < 0.001, p = 0.022, p = 0.685, respectively). Our study demonstrated that patients with PE were more likely to be women, patients with a history of palpitations, shortness of breath, syncope/presyncope, and those not having a history of CAD. More comprehensive studies are required in the future to clearly identify the risk factors for PE in patients with cancer and clarify the indications for tomography.