[Performance of the 4-level probability score 4PEPS for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism in a sub-Saharan African population: Data from the Pulmonary Embolism Registry of the Bogodogo University Hospital, Burkina Faso].

Objective: To evaluate the performance of the 4PEPS score in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism at the University Hospital of Bogodogo from January 1, 2021 to July 31, 2023.
Methodology: This was a cross-sectional descriptive and analytical diagnostic study, running from January 1, 2021 to July 31, 2023. It took place in the infectious and tropical diseases departments, including a pneumology unit and a cardiology unit, of the Bogodogo University Hospital. Patients of both sexes with suspected pulmonary embolism who had undergone CT scan were included. The 4PEPS score was calculated and dichotomized into probable and improbable. It thus constituted the diagnostic test. CT scan was the gold standard. The accuracy of the diagnostic test was judged by the area under the ROC curve. An area under the curve between 0.70 and 1 would mean that the score was moderately informative to perfect.
Results: Our study included 472 patients with suspected pulmonary embolism out of a total population of 1228 patients. Hospital prevalence was 21.7%. The mean age of patients was 54.3 years. Females accounted for 52.1% of cases, with a sex ratio of 0.93. The prevalence of pulmonary embolism in the different probability levels of the 4PEPS score was 13.3% for the very low level, 11.7% for the low level, 84.6% for the intermediate level and 93.3% for the high level. Sensitivity and specificity were 92.1% and 86.82% respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 90.1% and 89.4% respectively. The area under the ROC curve was 0.91.
Conclusion: In our study, the 4PEPS score showed good negative and positive predictive values. The use of this score will enable practitioners faced with diagnostic difficulties to make therapeutic decisions, reducing inappropriate prescriptions for thoracic angioscan.
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