Automated tool speeds clot burden assessment in PE patients

Gauging the clot burden in pulmonary embolism (PE) patients at CT pulmonary angiography is important for management and treatment. For most but not all patients, assessment can be performed faster using an automated clot burden assessment tool, researchers will report in this Sunday session.

David Fetzer, MD, of the University of Pittsburgh, and colleagues will discuss how they compared semiquantitative methods with an automated volumetric measurement tool developed at the facility in 641 patients with PE.

When the clot burden is mostly central, completely automated measurement clot volume correlated well with semiquantitative methods that apply quantitative clot volume measurements to traditional Qanadli pulmonary artery obstruction index (PAOI) and Mastora (G, C, and P) scores, the group said.

However, in patients with more peripheral clot burden, traditional semiquantitative scores were less well correlated to volume measurements, significantly underestimating subsegmental PE burden.