COVID-19 infection and its impact on case fatality in patients with pulmonary embolism
Lukas Hobohm, Ingo Sagoschen, Stefano Barco, Ioannis T. Farmakis, Ugo Fedeli, Sebastian Koelmel, Tommaso Gori, Christine Espinola–Klein, Thomas Münzel, Stavros Konstantinides, Karsten Keller
Abstract
Background Although a high prevalence of pulmonary embolism (PE) has been reported in association with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in critically ill patients, nationwide data on the outcome of hospitalised patients with COVID-19 and PE are still limited. Thus, we investigated seasonal trends and predictors of in-hospital death in patients with COVID-19 and PE in Germany. Methods We used a German nationwide inpatient sample to analyse data on hospitalisations among COVID-19 patients with and without PE during 2020, and to detect changes in PE prevalence and case fatality in comparison with 2019. Results We analysed 176 137 COVID-19 hospitalisations in 2020; PE was recorded in 1.9% (n=3362) of discharge certificates. Almost one-third of patients with COVID-19 and PE died during the in-hospital course (28.7%) compared with COVID-19 patients without PE (17.7%). Between 2019 and 2020, numbers of PE-related hospitalisations were largely unchanged (98 485 versus 97 718), whereas the case fatality rate of PE increased slightly in 2020 (from 12.7% to 13.1%; p<0.001). Differences in case fatality were found between PE patients with and without COVID-19 in 2020 (28.7% versus 12.5%; p<0.001), corresponding to a 3.1-fold increased risk of PE-related death (OR 3.16, 95% CI 2.91–3.42; p<0.001) in the presence of COVID-19. Conclusions In Germany, the prevalence of PE events during hospitalisations was similar in 2019 and 2020. However, the fatality rate among patients with both COVID-19 and PE was substantially higher than that in those with only one of these diseases, suggesting a life-threatening additive prognostic impact of the COVID-19–PE combination.