Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the changes in albumin levels in patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE) and to evaluate the diagnostic value in clinical forms of PE.

Material and Method: One hundred ten patients who applied to Chest Diseases Clinic and were diagnosed with PE were included in the study retrospectively. PE patients were divided into three groups as 28 massive, 33 submassive and 49 nonmassive, according to the clinical form. Differences in serum albumin, CRP and D-dimer results and other markers were analyzed among the three groups.

Results: Serum albumin levels were found to be statistically lower in the massive group compared to the submassive and nonmassive groups (p =0.003 and p =0.001, respectively). CRP levels were statistically higher in the massive group than the non-massive group p =0.027. There was a negative correlation between right ventricular diameter (RVD) and serum albumin levels (r =-0.26, p =0.005). When albumin cut-off value was taken as ≤3.35 to predict massive embolism by ROC analysis, albumin sensitivity was found to be 79% and specificity to be 70% (AUC = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.64-0.85, p =0.001).

Conclusion: Albumin is known as a negative acute phase reactant and its lower levels in massive PE may reflect an increased inflammatory state. Also, low albumin levels can be an indicator of the severity of acute pulmonary embolism.