Investigation of the relationship between the PaO₂/FiO₂ ratio and Wells score in patients diagnosed with acute pulmonary embolism

Abstract

Aim: In order to make a definitive diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism (APE), patients

to undergo computed tomography angiography (CTA) are selected according to certain

criteria. This study aimed to examine the partial oxygen pressure PaO2/inspired oxygen

concentration ratio (P/F) as a new parameter to be used for this purpose in addition to

the Wells score, which is one of the methods of determining clinical probability.

Materials and Methods: This study was prospectively conducted between July 1, 2022,

and October 1, 2022, and included 80 patients that presented to the emergency department

with acute dyspnea and were diagnosed with APE using CTA. The Wells scores of the

patients were recorded at the time of their presentation to the emergency department.

IBM SPSS v. 20.0 was used for the statistical analysis of the data.

Results: Of the cases included in the study, seven had a low probability, 57 had an

intermediate probability, and 16 had a high probability of APE. The PaO2 values of the

patients were 56.7±8.0, 56.1±11.2, and 51.8±9.9 mmHg for the low, intermediate, and

high probability groups, respectively. According to the Wells scores, the P/F ratios of

the patients with low, intermediate, and high probability were determined as 205.5±72.2,

198.5±62.5, and 183.5±43.6, respectively.

Conclusion: There was a negative correlation between the P/F ratio and Wells score,

but this was not statistically significant. Therefore, it may not be appropriate to evaluate

the P/F ratio in making a decision to perform CTA in clinical practice.