Clinical features of pulmonary thromboembolism of eight children / 中华儿科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To improve the diagnosis and therapy of childhood pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) by analyzing the clinical features of this rare condition.@*Methods@#A total of 8 pediatric patients (4 males, 4 females) with PTE diagnosed in the Children′s Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine from March, 2014 to March, 2019 were enrolled. The clinical manifestation, laboratory results, imaging findings, diagnosis and treatment were summarized.@*Results@#Among these 8 cases, aged from 9 hours to 14 years and 10 months. Fever was found in 4 cases, cough aggravation in 4, short of breath in 3, chest pain in 2, abdominal and back pain in one, hemoptysis in 2, cyanosis in 1, and edema of lower extremities in 2. Physical examination found decreased breath sound in 2 cases, phlegm rale in 3, and pleural friction rub in one. Pleural effusion was found in 5 cases by ultrasound. Plasma D-dimer increased in 6 cases (0.66-9.96 mg/L) and hypersensitive C-reactive protein elevated in 5 cases (10.78-78.00 mg/L). Chest enhanced CT showed pulmonary artery or venous filling defects, including pulmonary artery embolism in 7 cases and pulmonary vein embolism in one. The primary disease of these patients included Mycoplasma Pneumoniae pneumonia in 4 cases, nephritis in 2 and postoperative congenital heart disease in 2. Apart from one case who withdrew the treatment and was discharged, the other 7 patients received anticoagulant treatment had good outcome.@*Conclusions@#For children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia, immune disorders, long-term hormone therapy, cardiovascular invasive operation or other high-risk factors, PTE should be considered when fever, cough aggravation, short of breath, chest and back pain with pleural effusion are present. Chest enhanced CT scan should be performed as soon as possible, and anticoagulation should be started once the diagnosis is confirmed.