• Burcu Ozdemir, Levent Ozdemir, and Bilge Akgündüz.
• Samsun Education and Research Hospital, Chest Disease - Samsun, Turkey.
• Rev Assoc Med Bras (1992). 2021 Dec 1; 67 (12): 1852-1856.

ObjectiveTreatment options for submassive pulmonary thromboembolism cases vary depending on the patient's hemodynamic stability, comorbidities, and bleeding risk. The long-term effect of unfractionated heparin treatment on pulmonary hypertension and mortality is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the long-term effect of unfractionated heparin treatment on pulmonary thromboembolism.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study with 22 patients who were diagnosed with submassive pulmonary thromboembolism and followed up at the outpatient clinic between 2016 and 2020 and received unfractionated heparin treatment.ResultsMean pulmonary artery pressure was 53±13.6 mmHg during hospital admission and 42.7±13.4 mmHg at hospital discharge. There was a statistically significant decrease in d-dimer and pulmonary artery pressure levels before and after treatment (p=0.001). At the end of one year, pulmonary artery pressure was considered high in three patients of this study.ConclusionOur study suggests that unfractionated heparin is safe in the treatment of submassive pulmonary thromboembolism in terms of bleeding risk and reduces pulmonary artery pressure.

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