[Pulmonary thromboembolism based on the Turkish national data].

Pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) is an important health problem. It is disease with a wide clinical spectrum, from asymptomatic small PTE to life threatening major PTE. In this manuscript, we evaluated studies performed in Turkey to determine national status about PTE. We were examined that published in national or international journals, or abstracts presented in congresses from 1991 to nowadays, excluding reviews or case studies. Among the 75 studies, performed in Turkey, related this topic, the most common complaints in PTE were dyspnea and chest pain. Surgery and immobilization were the most frequent risk factors causing PTE, however cancers were rarely reported as a risk factor. The most common findings of chest radiography were parenchymal infiltration and pleural effusion. While the diagnosis of PTE were mostly based on clinical findings and lung scan findings in the earlier studies, spiral thorax computed tomography became an important tool of diagnosis recently, specially after the years of 2000. Interesting, mortality rates in massive PTE were found lower than the literature. In conclusion, the number of patients with PTE is increased due to developments in the diagnosis of PTE. Our national findings commonly comply with the international literature. However, we think the documentation of current national status in PTE requires more comprehensive studies.