Deep venous thrombosis in the clinical course of pulmonary embolism.

Objectives: The aim of the study is to find how concomitant deep venous thrombosis (DVT) changes the clinical course of pulmonary embolism. Methods: Three hundred and five patients with pulmonary embolism were examined and grouped into DVT and non-DVT groups. Both groups were compared with regard to demography, predisposing factors, clinical signs, thrombotic burden, and one-month mortality rate. Results: The patients with DVT had a more severe clinical presentation: higher heart rate (94.80 ± 18.66 beats per minute versus 87.9 ± 13.90 in the non-DVT group, p = 0.00033), more hemodynamic instability (11.35% versus 3.05% in the non-DVT group, p = 0.005), and less pCO2 in arterial blood gases (30.81 ± 7.94 mmHg versus 32.59 ± 7.35 mmHg in the non-DVT group, p = 0.049). The DVT group had heavier thrombotic burden in pulmonary artery, measured by Mastora score. The one-month mortality rate did not differ statistically between groups. Conclusions: Patients with symptomatic pulmonary embolism and concomitant DVT have heavier thrombotic burden in the pulmonary artery and more severe clinical presentation compared to those without DVT, but a similar one-month mortality rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]