Pulmonary embolism in patients with COVID-19: Time to change the paradigm of computed tomography

Highlights • Patients having COVID-19 pneumonia are at risk of coagulopathy and pulmonary embolism • In the absence of contraindications, patients admitted for COVID-19 should receive prophylactic low molecular weight heparin • Elevated D-dimer levels on admission or sudden clinical deterioration should raise suspicion of pulmonary embolism • Selected patients may benefit from CT pulmonary angiography to confirm pulmonary embolism and initiate appropriate therapy

Objective To raise awareness for possible benefits of examining known COVID-19 patients presenting sudden clinical worsening with CT pulmonary angiography instead of standard non-contrast chest CT.