Acta Clin Belg
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Multicenter Study
Thromboembolic burden, prognostic assessment and outcomes of females compared to males in acute pulmonary embolism.
Literature lacks on sex differences in acute pulmonary embolism (PE). Therefore, the aim of our study was to provide information about sex difference in thromboembolic burden, prognostic assessment and outcomes of PE. ⋯ Understanding the difference between females and males is of utmost importance for physicians who manage acute PE in clinical practice. Females present major pulmonary thromboembolic burden, more frequently right heart dysfunction and treatment-related bleedings but lower in-hospital mortality than males. Our study could implicate that management of acute PE should be tailored according to sex. Prospective studies are warranted to better clarify this topic.
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We present a case of an arterial blood gas sample analysis from a 33-year old woman where no oximetry results could be obtained using the Radiometer ABL800 FLEX device. Clinical history of this patient learned that she was carrier of a methemoglobin forming hemoglobin variant type Hyde Park (HbM Hyde Park) and raised the question whether or not this variant could be the cause of the errors obtained during analysis. ⋯ Methemoglobin forming hemoglobin variants are rare genetic mutations. However, they can possibly interfere with the calculation of CO-oximetry values. In these cases, pulse oximetry data should be avoided because they could lead to incorrect medical decisions.