Epidemiological and Clinical Profile of Pulmonary Embolism in the Cardiology Department of CHU Ignace Deen in Conakry

Abstract

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is defined as the sudden, partial or total obliteration of the pulmonary arteries or their branches by an embolus, most often fibrinocruoric. It plays a significant role in the morbidity of cardiovascular diseases in our context, and is manifested by a variety of entities. Our aim in this study was to describe the epidemiological, clinical and evolutionary aspects of pulmonary embolism in the Cardiology Department of the Ignace Deen National Hospital. We conducted a prospective descriptive study from June 1 to November 30, 2023. Variables studied included sociodemographic, clinical and evolutionary data. Pulmonary embolism accounted for 8.77% of hospitalizations for all cardiovascular conditions in the department. The mean age of our patients was 60.2 ± 16.2, with a 53% female predominance (sex ratio M/F = 0.8). The risk factors most frequently found in our patients were obesity (33%) and prolonged bed rest (13%). Patients with a high mortality risk represented 47% of the sample. The diagnosis was confirmed in all patients by thoracic angioscan, and the location was bilateral in 66% of cases, with proximal involvement confirmed in 20% and distal involvement in 13.3%. The immediate outcome was favourable in the vast majority of our patients (73.3%), but we recorded 20% complications and one death, giving a case-fatality ratio of 6.7%. Although our study was limited by its small sample size and limited duration, it nevertheless highlighted the importance of the morbidity and evolutionary characteristics of pulmonary embolism in this department. An in-depth, extended study in other hospital departments and structures would therefore provide more robust data on the characteristics of this condition in our context.