Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34820215›Full record

ArticleCureus2021

Pulmonary Embolism in COVID-19 Patients: A Retrospective Case-Control Study.

Fatimah A Alaithan, Mahdi H Aljawad, Asia H Ghawas, Abdulrahman S Althobaiti, Qusai A Almuslem, Mohammed H Bin Nasif, Faisal F Algharbi, Reem A Alshehri, Yousef K Al Gethami, Khaled W Altowayan and 5 more

RetractedOpen access · diamondAbstract readRetracted Publication
In one paragraph

Article in Cureus, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It has been retracted, and should not be counted. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.1field-weighted citation impact, top 50% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Fatimah A AlaithanRadiology, Dammam Medical Complex, Dammam, SAU.
Mahdi H AljawadRadiology, King Fahd University Hospital, Al-Khobar, SAU.
Asia H GhawasGeneral Practice, Dhurma General Hospital, Dhurma, SAU.
Abdulrahman S AlthobaitiGeneral Practice, Al Faisaliah Primary Health Care Center, Dammam, SAU.
Qusai A AlmuslemGeneral Practice, Al Naeriyah Hospital, Dammam, SAU.
Mohammed H Bin NasifCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, SAU.
Faisal F AlgharbiCollege of Medicine, King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, SAU.
Reem A AlshehriCollege of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, SAU.
Yousef K Al GethamiCollege of Medicine, Taif University, Al-Taif, SAU.
Khaled W AltowayanCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, SAU.
Fahad K AlzahraniCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, SAU.
Amal A SuwaylihCollege of Medicine, Hadhramout University, Al-Mukalla, YEM.
Abdullah S AlwadaiCollege of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, SAU.
Abdulmajeed M BadawiCollege of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, SAU.
Malak AlshammariCollege of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, SAU.
King Saud University · SAKing Abdulaziz University · SAImam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University · SAKing Khalid University · SA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCoagulopathy is a well-recognized complication in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Pulmonary embolism (PE) has substantial morbidity and mortality if the diagnosis is missed or the management is delayed. Computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CT-PA) is the imaging modality of choice for PE. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the positive rate of CT-PA for PE among patients with COVID-19.

methodsWe conducted a retrospective study examining the diagnostic yield of CT-PA in patients with confirmed COVID-19 and compared it with that in patients without COVID-19. The study included all adult patients with confirmed COVID-19 who presented from June 2020 to June 2021.

resultsThe study included 316 patients, including 158 patients with COVID-19, who underwent CT-PA for ruling out PE. Overall, 76 patients were found to have PE on the CT-PA scan, yielding a positive rate of 24.1%, with a significant difference between patients with COVID-19 (8.2%) and those without COVID-19 (39.9%). Further, 138 (87.3%) patients with COVID-19 had elevated D-dimer levels compared with 34 (21.5%) patients without COVID-19. A multivariable regression analysis model revealed that the smoking status (odds ratio [OR] = 1.94; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.4-3.8) and obesity (OR = 4.1; 95% CI: 1.5-8.9) were independent predictors of PE among patients with COVID-19. However, the elevated D-dimer level was not significantly associated with PE among patients with COVID-19 (OR = 0.7; 95% CI: 0.4-1.8).

conclusionThe study found that the positive rate of CT-PA for PE was lower among patients with PE indicating probable overutilization of investigation in these patients. Additionally, patients with COVID-19 had a higher proportion of elevated D-dimer levels that may be a contributor to the increased investigation for PE. Lastly, patients with COVID-19 who were current smokers had a higher tendency of having PE.

Indexed as

computed tomographycovid-19hyper coagulopathypulmonary angiographypulmonary embolism

Identifiers

PMID34820215
PMCPMC8600393
OpenAlexW3206776108

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.