Sex Differences in Symptoms of Pulmonary Embolism

SESSION TITLE: Venous Thromboembolism SESSION TYPE: Original Investigation Poster PRESENTED ON: Wednesday, November 1, 2017 at 01:30 PM - 02:30 PM PURPOSE: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a potentially life-threatening disease that has nonspecific findings at presentation and can mimic a variety of other cardiopulmonary conditions. In myocardial infarction, differences in clinical presentation among sexes has been described. We aim to characterize differences in clinical presentation that exist between males (M) and females (F). METHODS: 307 consecutive patients diagnosed with pulmonary embolism in an urban, teaching hospital were analyzed retrospectively. Clinical characteristics (pleuritic chest pain, hemoptysis, dyspnea, syncope, altered mental status and duration of symptoms) were compared among sexes. A student t-test was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The overall distribution of PE diagnosis was roughly equal among F and M [n=155 F (50.5%) vs n= 152 M (49.5%)]. Pleuritic chest pain was more common in F than M (43.9% vs 39.5%, p=0.44). Hemoptysis was more common in F than M (3.2% vs 2.6%, p=0.75). Dyspnea was more common in F than M (66.5% vs 55.3%, p=0.04). Syncope was less common in F than M (6.5% vs 12.5%, p=0.07). Altered mental status was less common in F than M (6.5% vs 6.6%, p=0.96). Duration of symptoms prior to presentation was 4.5 days in F (range 0-30) and 4.1 days in M (range 0-60), p=0.57. CONCLUSIONS: In our patient population, slight differences in symptoms of PE were noted. The most commonly reported symptoms in both groups were dyspnea and pleuritic chest pain. However, more F reported dyspnea as compared to M. The International Cooperative Pulmonary Registry (ICOPER) with a cohort of 1454 noted that in women, dyspnea was more common while in men, chest pain and hemoptysis were more common. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Although there are some differences in the symptomatology of PE between men and women, these are minimal. Clinicians should remain cognizant that women suffering from pulmonary embolism are more likely to present with dyspnea than men. DISCLOSURE: The following authors have nothing to disclose: Eric Bondarsky, Leslie Seijo, Jason Filopei, Madeline Ehrlich, David Steiger No Product/Research Disclosure Information