Post radiation pulmonary artery thrombosis distinct from pulmonary embolism: Study
Leesburg, VA - According to an article in ARRS' American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), the imaging findings of in situ pulmonary artery thrombosis (PAT) associated with radiation therapy (RT) are different from those of acute pulmonary emboli and do not appear to embolize. Due to the differences in clinical prognosis and subsequent management strategies, in situ PAT associated with RT--"which to our knowledge has not previously been described in the English literature," wrote the authors of this AJR article--must be distinguished from pulmonary embolism.
Searching the radiology database of a large teaching hospital to identify patients who had PAT develop after receiving RT, first author Jitesh Ahuja from the thoracic imaging department at the University of Texas' MD Anderson Cancer Center recorded the PAT's CT characteristics: number, location, appearance of filling defects, as well as the presence of associated lung fibrosis. The terminology (in situ thrombosis vs acute or chronic pulmonary embolism) used to describe PAT, the time between completion of RT and development of PAT, the size change of PAT, and any observation of new thrombi and emboli on follow-up imaging were also recorded.
https://www.ajronline.org/doi/10.2214/AJR.19.22741
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