Computed Tomography–Detected Pulmonary Thromboembolism in Renal Transplant Recipients at Risk of Echocardiographic Pulmonary Hypertension

Objective: Pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) and pulmonary hypertension (PH) are significant complications in patients undergoing renal transplantation (RT). The impact of preoperative PH on postoperative PTE risk remains unclear. The aim in this study was to determine the prevalence of newly developed PTE detected by CT in the follow-up of patients with a risk of PH according to tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), systolic pulmonary arterial hypertension (sPAP), TAPSE/sPAP values among transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) findings in the preoperative period in patients undergoing RT, and to determine whether there is an increase in the risk of PTE.
Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, 279 RT patients were evaluated. Patients were classified according to preoperative sPAP measured by TTE. The relationship between the development of acute PTE and TTE findings in these patients and TAPSE was examined.
Results: Pulmonary thromboembolism was detected in 6 patients (2.15%). The incidence of PTE was 1.7% in patients without PH and 3.2% in those with PH (P = .42). No significant difference was observed in PTE incidence across PH severity groups. Transthoracic echocardiography measurements of TAPSE showed that the TAPSE values in the normal PH group were significantly higher compared to the severe PH group (P = .008). Similarly, TAPSE values in the mild PH group were significantly higher than those in the severe PH group (P = .01).
Conclusions: Although a numerically higher incidence of PTE was observed in patients with PH, this association was not statistically significant. Larger studies are needed to clarify the relationship between PH and thromboembolic risk in renal transplant recipients.  

Cite this article as: Yağdıran B, Karakaya E, Kiriş.i B, et al. Computed tomography–detected pulmonary thromboembolism in renal transplant recipients at risk of echocardiographic pulmonary hypertension. Cerrahpaşa Med J 2026, 50, 0075, doi: 10.5152/cjm.2026.26075.