Padua and Caprini scores for predicting prognosis of patients with acute pulmonary embolism

Abstract

Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics and prognosis of patients with acute pulmonary embolism, and to explore the value of Padua and Caprini scores in predicting the prognosis of patients with acute pulmonary embolism. Methods The clinical data of 44 patients with acute pulmonary embolism were retrospectively collected; and their clinical characteristics and risk factors were analyzed. Ordinal regression was used to explore values of the two scoring systems in predicting the patients’ prognosis. Results The risk factors of the patients included surgery, COPD, coronary disease, cerebrovascular diseases, history of venous thrombosis, and cancer. The clinical characteristics included dyspnea, stethalgia, cough, hemoptysis, and tachycardia/tachypnea with no specificity. According to the Padua score, 21 cases were low risk, and 23 cases high risk; and there was no statistical difference in the survival time between the two groups (P>0.05). In terms of the Caprini score, 9 cases were low risk, 13 medium high risk, 7 high criksk, and 15 very high risk; and there were statistical differences in the survival time among these groups (all P<0.05). Conclusions There are many risk factors of patients with acute pulmonary embolism; and their clinical characteristics are nonspecific. The Padua score is meaningless to indicate the patients' prognosis, while the Caprini can predict their prognosis; the higher the Caprini level, the worse the prognosis. Key words: Acute pulmonary embolism; Padua; Caprini; Prognosis