Predictive factors of the presence of pulmonary embolism in patients with interstitial lung disease: Observational study

Abstract

In patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD), the risk of pulmonary embolism (PE) is increased; however, distinguishing between PE and ILD exacerbation can be difficult. Therefore, this study investigated the usefulness of the Wells criteria and revised Geneva score and predictive factors for diagnosing PE in ILD patients with worsening respiratory symptoms. We retrospectively collected the data of 65 patients with ILD who underwent computed tomography pulmonary angiography at Fukujuji Hospital and Kyorin University Faculty of Medicine from January 2018 to March 2023, including 18 patients in the PE group and 47 patients in the non-PE group, and the data were compared between the 2 groups. The Wells score (P = .165) and revised Geneva score (P = .140) were not useful for distinguishing between the PE and non-PE groups. Patients in the PE group showed higher D-dimer, total protein (TP), and globulin levels than those in the non-PE group (D-dimer median 24.5 µg/mL [range 3.0-79.3] vs 9.3 µg/mL [range 0.5-80.8], P = .016; TP median 7.2 g/dL [range 5.1-8.7] vs 6.4 g/dL [range 5.0-8.2], P = .002; globulin median 3.8 g/dL [range 2.6-5.5] vs 3.2 g/dL [range 3.0-5.3], P = .041). Using cutoff values of TP ≥ 7.0 g/dL and D-dimer ≥ 11.8 µg/mL, the odds ratios for predicting PE were 10.5 and 4.90, respectively. This study demonstrates that high TP and D-dimer levels are useful indicators for predicting PE in ILD patients with worsening respiratory symptoms, while the Wells score and revised Geneva score are not reliable in diagnosing PE.