ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index (PESI) and simplified PESI (sPESI) methods are used in the evaluation of patients with suspected acute pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE). OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to provide a rapid mortality risk stratification in patients with acute pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) immediately after admission without relying on laboratory data by using quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA), a three-parameter scoring system with proven efficiency used for swift prediction of organ dysfunction, and compare it with Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index (PESI) and simplified PESI (sPESI). METHODS: This study included outpatients and inpatients diagnosed with acute PTE in our clinic and whose PESI, sPESI and qSOFA scores were calculated for early mortality risk classification. RESULTS: A total of 123 patients who were objectively diagnosed with PTE and followed up were prospectively observed. When their qSOFA scores were compared with the early mortality risk stratification in acute PTE, patients with a high qSOFA score were determined to be in the high-risk group in the early mortality risk stratification (p < 0.001). Overall, 69.2% of 26 patients with a high qSOFA risk (≥2) were found to be in the high-risk group in the early mortality risk binary stratification in acute PTE (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The qSOFA score provides guidance to identify patients with acute PTE with potentially life-threatening hemodynamic decompensation or collapse in need of reperfusion therapy.
