A case of pulmonary thromboembolism with ST elevation and literature review

Abstract

Electrocardiography (ECG) is an auxiliary test applied for differential diagnosis of Pulmonary Thromboembolism (PTE). However, its specificity is low, but it is more often used for differential diagnosis. Although there are some changes on ECG in PTE, ST elevation is not a finding that we expect to see. With this case report, we aimed to draw attention to the issue with the diagnosis of PTE in a patient with ST elevation in ECG. 52-year-old male patient presented to the emergency department with a complaint of convulsion after chest and back pain. During the examination in the emergency department, he had a convulsion and woke up on his own without entering a postictal phase. After that, he had a chest pain. For this reason, ECG was performed to the patient and revealed ST elevation in leads DI, AVL, V1-4. The results of the patient's EEG and head computer tomography (CT) were normal, so coronary CT angiography was performed. And it was observed that the coronary arteries were patent but embolism was detected in his cross-sectional pulmonary arteries. Thus, he was treated with the diagnosis of PTE. By the obtained results in this case that ST elevation may be a finding of PE, although it is rare.