prospectively the quantitative relationship between deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and acute
pulmonary embolism (PE). patients clinically suspected of having venous thromboembolic disease
underwent combined CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) . patients presented with clinical signs of
DVT and positive ultrasonography , but no clinical sign of PE (Group 1). patients presented with
clinical signs of PE and positive CTPA (Group 2).
In conclusion, although PE occurs in a majority of patients with DVT.
Venous thromboembolic disease comprises pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep venous thrombosis
(DVT) [1–12].
A patient may present with either of these conditions, or both, and may not always exhibit the signs of
one condition. This is particularly concerning with silent PE,
where the risk of death increases with the presence of coexisting pulmonary disease, right heart failure
to compensate for pulmonary hypertension, and embolic
recurrences (which come from the lower limb veins in 90% of cases, and which further increase
pulmonary arterial obstruction) [13]. In patients clinically suspected of having PE, two imaging
approaches have been recommended: investigating firstly the lower limb veins [8, 9, 11] or the
pulmonary arteries [3, 5, 10, 14]. If DVT or PE is found with either investigation, the presence of the
alternative condition is often simply assumed and no further investigation is conducted. Patients are
then treated with anticoagulation therapy in order to prevent growth of DVT and/or PE recurrence.
However, it is not known whether the actual load of the clot in lower limb veins could predict clot load
in pulmonary arteries .

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