Langdurig aanhoudende kortademigheid na een acute longembolie

Objective

To determine the prevalence of dyspnoeic symptoms several years after an acute pulmonary embolism.

Design

Descriptive.

Method

At the start of 2007, 65 patients, who were diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism in the period November 2002 to August 2004, and 90 control subjects were asked to complete a questionnaire to determine the presence and severity of dyspnoea symptoms. The outcome of the questionnaire was used to categorise the patients and control subjects according to the classification of the New York Heart Association (NYHA).

Results

Forty-eight patients (74%) completed the questionnaire at an average of 40 months (SD: 7.4) after the diagnosis ‘pulmonary embolism’ had been established. Twenty-seven of them (56%; 95% CI: 41-71) were still dyspnoeic. In 19 of the 27 patients (70%; 95% CI: 50-86) with dyspnoeic symptoms, these complaints had developed or deteriorated since the pulmonary embolism. Sixty-one of the control subjects (68%) completed the questionnaire; 14 of them were dyspnoeic (23%; 95% CI: 13-26). Patients were more likely to be dyspnoeic than the control subjects (odds ratio (OR): 4.3; 95% CI: 1.9-9.9) and to have a more severe form of dyspnoea than the control subjects (p

Conclusion

More than half of the patients diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism still suffered from dyspnoeic symptoms, even 40 months after this diagnosis has been established. Further research is required to provide a satisfactory explanation for this.