Publications by authors named "Bertin Mathai"

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a heterogeneous disease with variable severity. Risk factors and occurrence of PE differ in patients by gender, age, and comorbidity. Our goal was to determine long-term mortality in imaging diagnosed PE in men and women while accounting for differences in age and health status.

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Stercoral colitis is an inflammatory reaction secondary to fecal impaction and almost always occurs in the setting of chronic constipation. Luminal distention caused by dense and dehydrated stool compresses the vascular supply of the distal colon, resulting in bowel ischemia and ulceration. Stercoral colitis primarily affects elderly patients, but it can be seen in any patient with decreased bowel motility, with risk factors including neurodegenerative disorders, chronic medical diseases, malignancy, immobility, and the use of narcotic or anticholinergic medications.

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Asthma and pulmonary embolism (PE) can present with overlapping symptoms, and distinguishing between these 2 conditions can be challenging. Asthma may limit imaging for PE because of either worsened ventilation defects on ventilation-perfusion scanning (VQ) or increased motion artifacts on CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA). We identified adults evaluated for PE with VQ or CTPA from 2012 to 2016.

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