Background: Venous thromboembolic (VTE) disease burden is increasing worldwide, representing a major cause of cardiovascular death and public health problem. Pulmonary embolism (PE) is the most serious clinical presentation of VTE. Epidemiological and clinical data on PE are still lacking in Africa, particularly in Cameroon. This study aimed at determining the clinical features as well as imaging presentation and outcome of pulmonary embolism. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in three hospitals in Douala. We retrospectively reviewed patient records admitted for PE from January 2009 to May 2017. We collected data on epidemiology, clinical presentation, venous Doppler/pulmonary computed tomographic angiography (CTA), and outcome. Results: We included 103 patients (56 males) with PE. Their median age was 52 years. The main risk factors were obesity (49.5%), hypertension (35.0%), long trip (24.3%) and cancer (18.4%). The most frequent clinical presentations were dyspnoea (83.4%), chest pain (78.6%), and cough (40.8%). Additionally, pleural effusion (32.8%), atelectasis (25.7%) and pulmonary hyperlucency (20.0%) were the most frequent findings on chest X-ray. The main abnormalities found in electrocardiogram were sinus tachycardia (63.4%), S1Q3T3 aspect (37.6%) and right axial deviation (28.7%). Moreover, right cavities dilatation (26.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.