Pulmonary embolism is the third most deadly type of heart disease in Europe, including Germany. A blood clot (thrombosis) is formed in the body, usually in the deep veins of the legs. This clot can break loose and travel through the bloodstream to the lungs, where it can partially or completely block one or more blood vessels in the lungs. This is called a pulmonary embolism. The effects of a blood clot in the lungs can vary a lot. This depends on how big the blood clot is and how the body reacts to it. Even after the worst of the illness has passed, some problems may still be noticeable months later. Some examples of this are feeling out of breath or tired all the time. There are different ways to treat a blood clot in the lungs. Each of these treatments has good points and bad points for each person. So, it's important to diagnose pulmonary embolism quickly so that the best treatment for each patient can be selected as soon as possible. To do this, the patient's overall condition and certain blood values are checked. These blood values are called biomarkers. The biomarkers currently used in clinical practice are not specific to pulmonary embolism and may also be elevated in other conditions, such as heart attack or heart failure. So, in our research project, we want to find and study new biomarkers (specific blood markers). We expect these new biomarkers to show how severe the blood clots are and what the quality of life is like after the blood clots. In other words, we want to find a link between them. Our goal is to make sure that, in the future, these biomarkers can be used to diagnose pulmonary embolism more quickly and accurately and to make treatment decisions for each patient more easily. To do this, we will collect blood samples from all the people taking part in the study. This will help us to work out how much of the biomarker is in each person's blood. We will compare this with the patients' overall health, results from ultrasound scans, and their q
- PE diagnosed by CT scan with right ventricular dysfunction (high and intermediate-high risk). - Age of 18 years or over - Willingness to attend follow-up appointments at the pulmonary embolism outpatient clinic 30 days, six months and 12 months after diagnosis.
- No informed consent or refusal to participate in the study. - PE found incidentally. - PE is not diagnosable on CT. - Patient aged under 18 years - Pregnant women
The primary endpoints were defined as time to cardiovascular death, and distinguishing between deaths associated with pulmonary embolism and those not associated with pulmonary embolism within the one-year follow-up period.