Annals of Thoracic Medicine
LETTER TO EDITOR
Year
: 2014  |  Volume : 9  |  Issue : 3  |  Page : 182-

Reply to the editor


Hadil AK Al Otair 
 Assistant Professor of Medicine, Consultant Department of Critical Care Medicine, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia

Correspondence Address:
Hadil AK Al Otair
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Consultant Department of Critical Care Medicine, King Saud University
Saudi Arabia




How to cite this article:
Al Otair HA. Reply to the editor.Ann Thorac Med 2014;9:182-182


How to cite this URL:
Al Otair HA. Reply to the editor. Ann Thorac Med [serial online] 2014 [cited 2023 Mar 28 ];9:182-182
Available from: https://www.thoracicmedicine.org/text.asp?2014/9/3/182/134080


Full Text

Sir,

We read with pleasure the comments on our recent paper, entitled "Outcome of pulmonary embolism and clinico-radiological predictors of mortality: Experience from a university hospital in Saudi Arabia".[1] We agree that signs of right ventricular dysfunction in computed tomography scan can be more predictive of outcome than the embolic burden based on obstruction score and localization, however in our study we assessd right side overload using echocardiographic criteria.[2] Biochemical markers of myocardial injury, e.g., troponin and pro-brain natriuretic peptide, although they are non specific, can be useful as prognostic markers in normotensive patients[3] and we acknowledge this to be a limitation of our study.

References

1Al Otair HA, Al-Boukai AA, Ibrahim GF, Al Shaikh MK, Mayet AY, Al-Hajjaj MS. Outcome of pulmonary embolism and clinico-radiological predictors of mortality: Experience from a university hospital in Saudi Arabia. Ann Thorac Med 2014;9:18-22.
2Schoepf UJ, Kucher N, Kipfmueller F, Quiroz R, Costello P, Goldhaber SZ. Right ventricular enlargement on chest computed tomography: A predictor of early death in acute pulmonary embolism. Circulation 2004;110:3276-80.
3ten Wolde M, Söhne M, Quak E, Mac Gillavry MR, Büller HR. Prognostic value of echocardiographically assessed right ventricular dysfunction in patients with pulmonary embolism. Arch Intern Med 2004;164:1685-9.