AbstractObjective: To study chest CT angiograms performed on patients suspected of having pulmonary embolism at the Borgou Departmental University Hospital Center (CHUD-B) in Parakou.
Materials and methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted over an 11-month period (December 1, 2023, to October 1, 2024) in the CT scan unit at CHUD-B. All patients who underwent a chest CT angiogram for suspected pulmonary embolism were included in the study. Descriptive data on sociodemographic characteristics and test results were reported. Data were processed and analyzed using Epi Info version 7.2.2.6 (CDC Atlanta, 2018) and Excel (Microsoft, 2016) software.
Results: Of the 63 patients who underwent chest CT angiography for suspected pulmonary embolism, 31 were pathological. The mean age of patients was 53.7 ± 17.9 years, with extremes of 23 and 92 years. Females were slightly predominant, accounting for 54.8% of cases. The thrombus was mainly lobar in 21 patients (67.7%). 64.5% of patients had indirect signs, the most common of which was pulmonary infarction in 42.8% of cases. Signs of severity were found in 15 patients (48.3%), and in all these cases there was dilation of the pulmonary artery trunk. Five patients (16.13%) had metastatic pulmonary embolism, and fibrin-blood origin was found in the other cases.
Conclusion: Chest CT angiography has become the gold standard for diagnosing pulmonary embolism, which is a life-threatening emergency. The recent introduction of a multi-detector CT scanner has improved diagnosis in the city of Parakou.
