Ruling Out Pulmonary Embolism During Pregnancy:a Multicenter Outcome Study

NCT00771303 | Completed DMC

• 2 other identifiers: 3200B0-120760Swiss medical Foundation
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 402
• Locations: 2 countries
• Sites: 9

Brief Summary

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) remains a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in developed countries. Objective diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE) and/or deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in pregnancy is crucial. Failure to identify PE or/or DVT will place the mother's life at risk, and unnecessary treatment will not only expose her to anticoagulants but will also label her as having had VTE. Thus, this diagnosis has serious implications for the management of her present pregnancy, and for other aspects of her life ranging from contraception to thromboprophylaxis in future pregnancies and hormone replacement therapy in later life. It is therefore critical that all women with symptoms or signs that suggest venous thromboembolism have appropriate investigation and diagnosis based on objective diagnostic tests. The current diagnostic approach in suspected PE is based on sequential diagnostic tests: 1) assessment of clinical probability, 2) fibrin D-dimer measurement, 3) compression ultrasonography of lower limb veins and 4) multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT). However, physicians are reluctant to perform MSCT in pregnant women because of potential adverse effect of radiation exposure to the fetus. For this reason, ventilation/perfusion or perfusion-only lung scan has been the cornerstone of PE diagnosis in pregnant women. Indeed, perfusion lung scan was assumed to be associated with less radiation than computed tomography (CT). However, this technique is now widely abandoned in the usual diagnostic strategy of PE for the following reasons: it is not widely available; its interpretation may be difficult and the test may be inconclusive in the presence of other chest abnormalities. Moreover, recent data convincingly show that the radiation exposure associated with single-slice or multi-slice CT exposes the fetus to less radiation than perfusion lung scan. However, the use of CT has never been adequately validated in pregnant women with clinically suspected PE. The investigators, therefore, plan to set up a prospective management study in which pregnant women with suspected PE will undergo a sequential diagnostic strategy based on 1) assessment of clinical probability 2) D-dimer measurement 3) compression ultrasonography, and 4) MSCT. Nowadays, the overestimated fear of radiation exposure for the fetus leads to an irrational attitude and inadequate investigations in pregnant women with suspected PE, even though both European \[3, 4\] and North-American guidelines \[5\] suggest that only objective testing may accurately rule out the disease. The proposed study should lead to an increased awareness of the risks and benefits of appropriate imaging in pregnant women suspected of PE and should result in a more rational management of this under-studied patient group.

Conditions

Pulmonary Embolism; Deep Vein Thrombosis

Keywords

Pregnancy; Pulmonary embolism; MSCT

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Proportion of patients with a symptomatic thromboembolic event in the three month follow-up among those in whom PE was ruled out by the diagnostic strategy and who were left untreated by anticoagulants.

  3 months

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Efficacy of non invasive testing

  3 months

• Proportion of patients with a negative D-dimer result

  3 months

• Proportion of patients with a lower limb venous ultrasound showing a proximal DVT

  3 months

Study Arms (1)

Ct scan

Pregnant patients with suspected PE will undergo a strategy based on clinical probability assessment, D-dimer measurement, lower limb compression ultrasonography and multi-slice computed tomography.

Other: Pregnant patients with suspected PE will undergo a strategy based on clinical probability assessment, D-dimer, lower limb vein ultrasonography and MSCT.

Interventions

Pregnant patients with suspected PE will undergo a strategy based on clinical probability assessment, D-dimer, lower limb vein ultrasonography and MSCT. OTHER

Ct scan

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 50 Years
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Pregnant women with suspected PE.

You may not qualify if:

• Age less than 18 years
• Absence of informed consent
• Patients allergic to contrast medium
• Impaired renal function (creatine clearance less than 30 ml/min as estimated by the Cockroft formula)
• Geographic inaccessibility for follow-up

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University Hospital, Geneva: lead
• Swiss National Science Foundation: collaborator
• University Hospital, Brest: collaborator

Study Sites (9)

Pierre-Marie ROY

Angers, 49933, France

Location

Grégoire LE GAL

Brest, 29609, France

Location

Florence PARENT

Clamart, 92141, France

Location

Isabelle QUERE

Montpellier, 34295, France

Location

Jean-Christophe GRIS

Nîmes, 30029, France

Location

Guy MEYER

Paris, 75015, France

Location

Caroline BOHEC

Pau, 64000, France

Location

Antoine ELIAS

Toulon, 83056, France

Location

Marc Righini

Geneva, 1205, Switzerland

Location

Biospecimen

Retention: SAMPLES WITHOUT DNA

Nt-pro BNP measurement

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Pulmonary Embolism; Venous Thrombosis

Interventions

fibrin fragment D

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Lung Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Embolism; Embolism and Thrombosis; Vascular Diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases; Thrombosis

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Prof

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 10, 2008
• First Posted: October 13, 2008
• Study Start: September 1, 2008
• Primary Completion: August 1, 2017
• Study Completion: August 1, 2017
• Last Updated: May 9, 2018

Record last verified: 2018-05

Locations

FR (8); CH (1)