The present study conducted a retrospective review regarding the characteristics of cases of pulmonary embolism to investigate the risk factors that affect survival. A total of 176 patients, who were followed-up in our hospital with a diagnosis of pulmonary thromboembolism over a two-year period, were evaluated retrospectively. The relationship between survival and age, gender, D-dimer levels, pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP), partial oxygen pressure (PaO2) and predisposing factors (e.g. deep-vein thrombosis, type of operation, trauma, congenital disease) were investigated. A one-way variance analysis (ANOVA), a Pearson correlation test and a survival analysis were carried out. Of all patients with a pulmonary embolism, 110 (62%) were male and 66 (37%) were female. The mean age of the patient group was 48+18 years, mean plasma D-dimer levels were 3.41+2.90 µgr/l, mean PAP was 55.6 ±22.3 mmHg and mean PaO2 was measured as 58+9 mmHg. In terms of predisposing factors, 28.4% of the patients diagnosed with pulmonary embolism had DVT, 9.6% underwent a gynecological operation, 5.1% were treated as outpatients in the gynecology and orthopedics departments, 8.5% had a history of orthopedic surgery, 9.6% had a history of trauma, 15.3% had COPD, 3.4% had malignancy and 9.6% had a congenital disease, while no predisposing factor was identified in 10.2% of the patients. A negative relationship was identified between age and survival (p=0.01). The mean age of the patients who died after a pulmonary embolism was 63+14 years, compared to 47±18 years for the survivors. No significant relationship was identified between D-dimer levels and survival (p>0.05), and the pulmonary arterial pressure was also not significantly associated with survival in these cases (p>0.05). A negative relationship was found between PaO2 and survival (p= 0.002), with the mean PaO2 of the patients who died being 52.5 mmHg, compared to 69.4 mmHg for the survivors. None of the predisposing factors was significantly associated with survival (p>0.05). The rate of in-hospital mortality among patients followed during this period was 10.7%. The findings demonstrated that old age and low PaO2 were associated with decreased in-hospital survival in patients with a pulmonary embolism, while PAP, D-dimer levels and predisposing factors did not affect survival.

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