Evaluation of Lipocalin-2 and -10 Levels at Time of Diagnosis in Patients with Acute Pulmonary Embolism

Background: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is an emergent pulmonary vascular pathology with high morbidity and mortality. This study investigated the relationship between serum lipocalin-2 and -10 levels and clinical score for early mortality risk in patients diagnosed with PE in the emergency department. Methods: The study included 100 patients with PE and 25 healthy controls. The patients with PE were classified as high-risk (Group 1; n = 25), high-intermediate-risk (Group 2; n = 25), low-intermediate-risk (Group 3; n = 25), and low-risk patients (Group 4; n = 25). Serum lipocalin 2 and 10 levels at admission were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and compared between the five groups. Results: Serum lipocalin-2 concentration was significantly higher in Group 1 when compared with the other groups (p = 0.003, =0.001, <0.001, and <0.001, respectively). Serum lipocalin-10 level was also higher in Group 1 than in the other groups (p < 0.001 for all). In addition, lipocalin-10 level was higher in Group 2 than in Group 3, Group 4, and the control group (p = 0.05, <0.001, and <0.001, respectively). In the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis of the utility of lipocalin-2 and lipocalin-10 in the differentiation of high-risk PE patients, for lipocalin-2, a cut-off value of 677.7 ng/L had 90% sensitivity and 79% specificity, while for lipocalin-10, a cut-off value of 506.4 ng/L had 90% sensitivity and 87% specificity. Conclusion: Clinical risk scoring for early mortality in PE is important for treatment planning. Serum lipocalin-2 and -10 levels may be useful in early diagnosis and treatment planning in PE.