Pulmonary embolism associated with nephrotic syndrome in children: a preliminary report of 8 cases

Objective To investigate the incidence, clinical features of pulmonary embo lism (PE) secondary to nephrotic syndrome(NS) in Chinese children. Methods Pulmonary perfusion imaging (PPI) and chest radiography was perform ed on 20 NS patients with elevated plasma D-dimer. The patients with PE wer e given anticoagulative therapy with heparin and persantine. Results Among 20 NS patients, eight cases, aged from 5 to 12 years, 6 boys and 2 girls, were found to have PE. Of them 5 were primary NS and 3 were se condary NS. PPI showed an involvement of 1 pulmonary segment in 3 cases, of 2 pulmonary segments in 2, of 3 pulmonary segments in 2,and of 6 pulmonary segments in 1. Most patients did not present clinical signs and symptoms. Two weeks after the administration of intravenous heparin for anticoagulati ve therapy, 6 out of 8 cases showed a recovery or an improvement. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that PE be not a rare complica tion in NS children. Most patients had no obvious clinical manifestation an d their prognose was favorable if diagnosed and treated in time.