Computed Tomography Practices in the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Embolism at the University Hospital Center (CHU-RN), N’Djamena, Chad

Pulmonary embolism is the third most common cardiovascular and respiratory disease after myocardial infarction and stroke. It remains one of the leading causes of death. Although very dangerous, its incidence has declined in recent decades. This is confirmed by longitudinal autopsy studies showing that in 70% of deaths from pulmonary embolism, the diagnosis was not made during the patient's lifetime. This was a descriptive study with both retrospective and prospective components. It focused on patient records and patients who came to the Radiology Department for chest pain and suspected pulmonary embolism at the National Central Reference Hospital in N'Djamena (HGRN). It covers the last three years, which is retrospective, and the four months from June to September 2023, which is prospective, entitled “The use of computed tomography in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism”. Data collection was carried out using structured and semi-structured questionnaires, which enabled information to be gathered from these patients.