Abstract

Aims: Covid 19 is a multisystem disease that varies from mild to very severe and is fatal in different individuals. The exact cause of the deterioration of the disease in some people is not completely known, but various studies have shown that the risk of venous arterial embolism is higher in these patients for various reasons, and one of the reasons that worsen the clinical course and increases mortality in these patients, Pulmonary Emboli (PE). Due to the non-specific and non-diagnostic nature of clinical signs and laboratory tests (d-dimer) for the diagnosis of PE in patients with covid-19 and also the non-specificity of the findings in contrast-free CT, there is a possibility of delay in the diagnosis of PE. Since early detection of PE treatment and prevention of PE in high-risk individuals is very effective in the prognosis of covid-19 underlying disease, so careful study of the prevalence of PE in patients with covid-19 and also a careful study of underlying factors Which may increase the risk of PE in patients with covid-19, play an important role in designing appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic clinical trials for the prevention and treatment of PE in patients with covid-19 as well as preventing the inappropriate administration of anticoagulants. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the frequency of pulmonary embolism and the severity of lung parenchyma involvement (CTSS) in hospitalized patients with covid-19.
Methods: This retrospective study was performed by examining the files of 211 patients with Covid-19 who were hospitalized in Baqiyatallah Hospital from 2020 to 2021. Variables such as age, sex, the severity of PE, D-Dimer, ward, Underlying diseases were extracted and finally analyzed with SPSS version 26.
Result: The results of this study showed that the mean age of 211 patients was 56.26±56.54 years, of which 55.5% were male. The prevalence of pulmonary thromboembolism in patients was 23.7%. There was no significant relationship between patients with pulmonary thromboembolism and severity of lung parenchyma involvement.
Conclusion: Based on the high number of patients diagnosed with PE among those scanned we recommend a low threshold for performing computed tomography angiography in patients with COVID-19 and respiratory deterioration.

Keywords:COVID-19; Pulmonary embolism; CT Scan Severity Score (CTSS)

Keywords:PE: Pulmonary Emboli; CTSS: Computed Tomography Severity Score; ARDS: Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome; CTPA: Computed Tomography Pulmonary Angiogram; RUL: Right Upper Lobe; RML: Right Middle Lobe; RLL: Right Lower Lobe, LUL: Left Upper Lobe; LLL: Left Lower Lobe; ICU: Intensive Care Unit