J Korean Soc Radiol.  2010 Jul;63(1):33-39. 10.3348/jksr.2010.63.1.33.

The Location and Size of Pulmonary Embolism in Antineoplastic Chemotherapy Patients

• Park YJ
• Kwon W
• Lee WY
• Koh SB
• Kim SA
• Kim MS
• Kim YJ

• KMID: 2208883
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3348/jksr.2010.63.1.33

Abstract

PURPOSE
To retrospectively evaluate the prevalent location and size of pulmonary embolism (PE) in anti-neoplastic chemotherapy patients by multidetector row CT (MDCT).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This study was conducted on 101 patients that were positively diagnosed with PE by CT. Among these patients, 23 had received or were undergoing chemotherapy. The location and the mean size of the largest PE were compared between anti-neoplastic chemotherapy patients and non-cancer patients using the Chisquare test and paired t-test, respectively. We also used a multiple linear regression to assess the risk posed by the other risk factors of PE.
RESULTS
The most prevalent location of PE in patients on anti-neoplastic chemotherapy was in the lobar or segmental pulmonary arteries and was not significantly different from non-cancer patients. The size of the PE was smaller in patients on anti-neoplastic chemotherapy (1.14 mL [standard error = 0.29]) compared to non-cancer patients. (2.14 mL [standard error = 0.40]) (p < 0.05).
CONCLUSION
The size of PE is smaller in anti-neoplastic chemotherapy patients than in non-cancer patients.

MeSH Terms

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols
Humans
Linear Models
Pulmonary Artery
Pulmonary Embolism
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Axial chest CT scan shows the measurement of the embolus area using VoxelPlus. The measured area of the emboli is summed up to calculate the volume.

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  Fig. 2 63-year-old man without underlying disease. A, B. Axial and coronal CT scan show a large PE (arrow) in the main pulmonary artery.

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  Fig. 3 64-year-old man with lung cancer. A, B. Axial and coronal CT scan show a small PE in the laterobasal segmental artery of the left lower lobe (arrow).

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