Can the Complexity of Diagnosing Pulmonary Embolism in Patients With Obesity and Multiple Comorbidities Provide an Explanation of the Obesity Paradox?

What is it about?

This is a proposal of a new hypothesis trying to explain the Obesity paradox. The Hypothesis suggests there is a selection bias in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism in obese patients, as obese patients with co-morbidities can present a challenge to diagnose. The is evidence in the literature than many such case may be missed

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Why is it important?

Clinicians should be aware of the difficulty of diagnosing Pulmonary embolism in patients with multiple co-morbidities. Standard scores do not include obesity as a risk factor, while the Wells score is decreased when alternative causes are envisaged.