• Fang Wang, Zhao-zhong Cheng, Jing-luan Wang, Wei-zhong Han, and Ni-na Sun.
• Department of Respiratory Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266101, China.
• Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi. 2013 Jun 25; 93 (24): 1868-71.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the incidence of pulmonary embolism in patients with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).MethodsComprehensive searches as of June 2012 were performed in PubMed (1966-), Embase (1974-), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (1978-), Chinese Journal Full-text Database (1979-) and VIP Database (1989-) for literatures on the incidence of pulmonary embolism in patients with acute exacerbations of COPD. Meta-analysis was conducted with Stata version 11.0.ResultsAmong 2273 articles identified, 5 studies met the inclusion criteria (4 in English, 1 in Chinese). The total sample size was 762 patients, among whom 145 were diagnosed with pulmonary embolism. The incidence of pulmonary embolism ranged from 3.3% to 33.0%. Meta-analysis showed that the combined incidence was 15.8% (95%CI: 5.1%-26.4%). Among patients with acute exacerbations of COPD of unknown etiology, the incidence was 29.0% (95%CI: 20.8%-37.1%).ConclusionsThere is a high incidence of pulmonary embolism in patients with acute exacerbations of COPD, especially among those of an unknown etiology. More attention should be paid to this population.

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