Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia associated with pulmonary embolism and
necrotizing pneumonia
Abstract
Background: This study aimed to explore the clinical
characteristics and management of mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP)
combined with pulmonary embolism (PE) in children and gain a better
understanding of the diagnosis treatment and prognosis of the disease.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 16
children who were diag-nosed with MPP associated with PE and NP between
Janunary 2016 and Janunary 2023 at Children’s Hospital, Zhejiang
University School of Medicine. Results: All of the cases were
diagnosed with refractory mycoplasma pneumoniae pneum-onia (RMPP) and
complicated with necrotizing pneumonia(NP). The ages of the patients
ranged from 5.3 to 11.5 years old. The main manifestations were cough
and fever(n=16, 100%),chest pain (n=8, 50%) , shortness of
breath(n=8,50%), hemoptysis (n=4, 25%). Among them, the pulmonary
artery was involved in 12 patients, including 6 cases on the right, 4
cases on the left, and 2 cases on both sides. Besides, the pulmonary
vein was suffered in 3 patients. Furthermore, Pulmonary artery and
pulmonary vein were involved in 1 patient. The mean D-dimer level was
8.50±4.76mg/L. All patients underwent anticoagulant therapy. After
treatment, all patients ’s symptoms were improved, and the lung lesions
were significantly improved. Conclusion: For children with
RMPP, PE and NP should be considered when chest pain, hemoptysis or high
level of d-dimer are present. Chest enhanced CT scan should be
perf-ormed as soon as possible, and anticoagulation should be treated
once the diagnosis of PEis confirmed. The long-term prognosis of PE was
favorable after the timely administrationof anticoagulant therapy.