Wheezing in patients with acute pulmonary embolism with and without previous cardiopulmonary disease.

Background: Wheezing is a little known but possible presentation feature of acute pulmonary embolism.

Methods: A retrospective review of the records of 154 consecutive patients with acute pulmonary embolism, who survived long enough for diagnostic evaluation.

Results: Fourteen patients with acute pulmonary embolism (9.1%) had wheezing at presentation. Wheezing was more frequent in patients with previous cardiopulmonary disease than in those without previous cardiopulmonary disease, although this did not reach statistical significance (13.5 versus 6.9%; P=0.17). Dyspnoea, cough and respiratory failure were more frequent with statistical significance in our patients with wheezing than in those without wheezing. The hospital mortality rate was similar in both groups.

Conclusions: Wheezing in acute pulmonary embolism may be more frequent in patients with previous cardiopulmonary disease. However, wheezing also occurs in patients with acute pulmonary embolism without previous cardiopulmonary disease. Wheezing may be a sign of severity in acute pulmonary embolism.