Feasibility of a novel ultrasonic scale for evaluation of sub-massive pulmonary embolism / 中华超声影像学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the application value of a novel ultrasonic scale in the evaluation of sub-massive pulmonary embolism (sub-PE).Methods:Retrospective analyses were conducted in 137 patients with acute pulmonary embolism confirmed by computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) in the second affiliated hospital of Harbin Medical University from September 2017 to June 2019. They were divided into experimental set (77 cases) and testing set(60 cases). According to the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines for pulmonary embolism in 2019, the patients were classified into sub-PE(71 cases) and small pulmonary embolism(small-PE, 66 cases). Parameters in the experimental set were screened by statistical methods to make an ultrasonic scale, and then the patients in the testing set were scored by the scale. ROC curve was plotted to calculate the diagnostic efficacy of the ultrasonic scale for sub-PE.Results:①The patients of sub-PE were older than small-PE patients [(61.57±1.45) years vs (56.31±1.59) years, P=0.016], but there was no significant difference between the two groups in other general data( P>0.05). ②Within the 77 pulmonary embolism patients in the experimental set, 41(53.25%) were classified as the sub-PE and 36(46.75%) as the small-PE. Compared with the small-PE group, right ventricular diameter, pulmonary artery trunk diameter, right ventricle/left ventricle ratio, tricuspid regurgitation velocity, the Tei index and the inferior vena cava diameter in the sub-PE group increased significantly ( P<0.05), and right ventricular wall motion amplitude, right atrium area rate, right ventricular area rate, tricuspid annulus systolic displacement, collapse rate of inferior vena cava and pulmonary artery blood flow acceleration time decreased significantly ( P<0.05); ③Fifteen ultrasonic parameters were used in the ultrasonic scale. The scale in sub-PE group of the testing set was significantly increased compared with that in small-PE group (11.63±3.87 vs 4.43±1.96, P<0.001). ROC showed that the AUC in diagnosing sub-PE by ultrasonic scale was 0.96. When the cut-off value was 6.5, the sensitivity and specificity were 90.00% and 83.33%, respectively. Conclusions:The novel ultrasonic scale can provide a comprehensive and feasible ultrasound imaging method for evaluation of sub-PE.