DIABETES AND PULMONARY ARTERY EMBOLISM
The purpose. The aim of the study is to analyze characteristics and the clinical course of pulmonary embolism in patients with diabetes on the basis of the Pulmonary Embolism Register (PE) of deaths in Tomsk hospitals between 2003 and 2011. Materials and methods. We studied the autopsy reports and medical records of all patients (712 cases) diagnosed with pulmonary embolism ante- and/or postmortem, died between 2003 and 2010. Diabetes mellitus was diagnosed in 141 patients and all of them had moderately severe course of the disease or were sub-or decompensated. 28.57% had a high body mass as well: 31.59 + 8.36 kg/m <sup>2</sup>. The ratio of medical to surgical patients was 2.1 : 1. Results. All patients with diabetes were hospitalized on an emergency basis. 31 patients (21.6 %) stayed in hospital less than a day, so blood clots – the sources of thromboembolism, were formed at home, outside of hospital. The major source of thromboembolism was inferior vena cava branches. At the same time, 31.4% diabetic patients had thrombi in the right chambers of the heart. Anticoagulants were used in 16.4% of cases to prevent thromboembolism. Conclusion. The importance of type 2 diabetes mellitus as a risk factor for thromboembolic complications has been until now underestimated both at the outpatient and hospital stages.