Acute Pulmonary Embolism in Individuals Aged 80 and Older

Clinical characteristics and mortality predictors among very old patients with pulmonary thromboembolism: a multicenter study report

BACKGROUND

Clinical characteristics of patients with pulmonary thromboembolism have been described in previous studies. Although very old patients with pulmonary thromboembolism are a special group based on comorbidities and age, they do not receive special attention.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to explore the clinical characteristics and mortality predictors among very old patients with pulmonary thromboembolism in a relatively large population.

DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS

The study included a total of 7438 patients from a national, multicenter, registry study, the China pUlmonary thromboembolism REgistry Study (CURES). Consecutive patients with acute pulmonary thromboembolism were enrolled and were divided into three groups. Comparisons were performed between these three groups in terms of clinical characteristics, comorbidities and in-hospital prognosis. Mortality predictors were analyzed in very old patients with pulmonary embolism.

KEY RESULTS

In 7,438 patients with acute pulmonary thromboembolism, 609 patients aged equal to or greater than 80 years (male 354 (58.1%)). There were 2743 patients aged between 65 and 79 years (male 1313 (48%)) and 4095 patients aged younger than 65 years (male 2272 (55.5%)). Patients with advanced age had significantly more comorbidities and worse condition, however, some predisposing factors were more obvious in younger patients with pulmonary thromboembolism. PaO2 < 60 mmHg, eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73m2, malignancy, anticoagulation as first therapy were mortality predictors for all-cause death in very old patients with pulmonary thromboembolism. The analysis found that younger patients were more likely to have chest pain, hemoptysis (the difference was statistically significant) and dyspnea triad.

CONCLUSION

In very old population diagnosed with pulmonary thromboembolism, worse laboratory results, atypical symptoms and physical signs were common. Mortality was very high and comorbid conditions were their features compared to younger patients. PaO2 < 60 mmHg, eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73m2 and malignancy were positive mortality predictors for all-cause death in very old patients with pulmonary thromboembolism while anticoagulation as first therapy was negative mortality predictors.

Causes of long-term mortality in patients with venous thromboembolism in the real world: From the COMMAND VTE registry

INTRODUCTION

There is still a scarcity of data on causes of long-term mortality in patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The COMMAND VTE Registry is a physician-initiated, retrospective, multicenter cohort study in which consecutive 3027 patients with acute symptomatic VTE among 29 centers in Japan were included between January 2010 and August 2014. We investigated detailed causes and risk factors for long-term mortality.

RESULTS

During a median observation period of 1218 days, a total of 764 patients died, and the prevalence of active cancer was higher in patients who died than in patients alive (61 % versus 10 %, P < 0.001). The cumulative incidences of cardiac death, pulmonary embolism (PE)-related death, bleeding death, cancer death, and non-cardiovascular non-cancer death were 2.2 %, 2.9 %, 2.0 %, 16.1 %, and 6.7 % at 5 years, respectively. The incidence of cancer death increased gradually, which was the most common cause of long-term death. Among patients without active cancer, the incidence of PE-related death increased rapidly and became a plateau beyond the acute phase, whereas the incidence of non-cardiovascular non-cancer death kept increasing, which became most common in the long term. The separate multivariable analysis among patient with and without active cancer identified independent risk factors of all-cause death including a few patient characteristics among patients with active cancer and several patient characteristics among patients without active cancer.

CONCLUSIONS

Cancer was the most common cause of long-term mortality, while non-cardiovascular non-cancer death became most common among patients without active cancer.

Predictive Factors of Pulmonary Embolism in Older Patients with SARS-CoV-2: The OCTA-COVID-19 Study

Background: The risk of pulmonary embolism (PE) has not been studied in older patients affected by COVID-19. We aimed to assess PE incidence and risk factors in a population of older patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Methods: An ambispective, observational cohort study. A total of 305 patients ≥ 75 years old had the SARS-CoV-2 infection from March to May 2020. The incidence rate of PE was estimated as the proportion of new cases within the whole sample. Youden’s index was used to assess the cutoff point of D-dimer. To select factors associated with the risk of PE, time-to-event analyses were performed using cause-specific hazard models. Results: In total, 305 patients with a median age of 87 years (62.3% female) were studied; 67.9% were referred from nursing homes and 90.4% received any type of anticoagulation. A total of 64.9% showed frailty and 44% presented with dementia. The PE incidence was 5.6%. The cutoff value of a D-dimer level over 2.59 mg/L showed a sensitivity of 82.4% and specificity of 73.8% in discriminating a PE diagnosis. In the multivariate analysis, the factors associated with PE were previous oncological events and D-dimer levels. Conclusions: The PE incidence was 5.6%, and major risk factors for PE were oncological antecedents and increased plasma D-dimer levels.

Prognosis and risk factors in older patients with lung cancer and pulmonary embolism: a propensity score matching analysis

Older patients, especially those with malignancy, may have an increased risk of pulmonary embolism (PE). However, few studies have evaluated the clinical characteristics and prognosis of older patients. We evaluated the clinical characteristics, prognosis, and risk factors in older patients with lung cancer complicated with PE. This was a single-center, prospective cohort study. Older patients (≥65 years) with lung cancer admitted in Beijing Hospital from January 2006 to December 2016 were enrolled. The patients were divided into two groups according to the presence of PE using propensity score matching (PSM). After PSM, one hundred and six patients (53 per group) with an average age of (77.3 ± 10.9) years were enrolled. Adenocarcinoma was the most common histology in patients with PE (52.8%, n = 28), and most lung cancer patients were in stages III and IV (59.4%, n = 63). Patients with PE were stratified to low risk (52.8%, n = 28), intermediate-low risk (24.5%, n = 13), intermediate-high risk (15.1%, n = 8), high-risk (7.5%, n = 4) subgroups. Most PE patients presented with dyspnea (75.5%), and the majority of patients (86.8%, n = 46) developed PE within 3 months after the diagnosis of cancer. The median follow-up time was 23.7 months (12.0-62.0 months), and 7 patients (6.6%) were lost to follow-up. During the follow-up period, 92 patients (86.8%) died, including 8 cases (8.7%) of PE-related death, 73 (79.3%) of tumor death, and 11 (11.9%) of unknown cause. There were significant differences in all-cause mortality (94.3% vs. 83.0%) and PE-related mortality (15.1% vs. 0) between the PE and control groups, but the rate of tumor-related mortality (75.5% vs. 66.0%) was comparable between the groups. Among the 92 patients who died, the mortality rates at 3, 6, 12, and > 12 months after tumor diagnosis were 33.0% (33/106), 57.5% (61/106), 78.3% (83/106), and 89.6% (95/106), respectively. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the median overall survival time was significantly different between the PE and the control groups (4.3 vs. 9.2 months, P = 0.0015). Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that age ≥ 77 years (OR = 2.58, 95%CI: 1.66-4.01), clinical stage III-IV (OR = 2.21, 95%CI: 1.03-4.74), adenocarcinoma (OR = 3.24, 95%CI: 1.75-6.00), high D-dimer (≥600 mg/L) (OR = 2.73, 95%CI: 1.25-5.96), and low partial pressure of oxygen (PaO₂; <75 mmHg) (OR = 2.85, 95%CI: 1.74-4.67) were independent risk factors for PE in older patients with lung cancer. Older patients with lung cancer and PE often have poor prognosis. Advanced age, clinical stage III-IV, adenocarcinoma, high D-dimer level, and low PaO₂ are independent risk factors for PE.

High mortality in patients presenting with acute pulmonary embolism and elevated INR not on anticoagulant therapy

The prognostic significance of patients presenting with pulmonary embolism (PE) and elevated International Normalised Ratio (INR) not on anticoagulant therapy has not been described. We investigated whether these patients had higher mortality compared to patients with normal INR. A retrospective study of patients admitted to a tertiary hospital with acute PE from 2000 to 2012 was undertaken, with study outcomes tracked using a state-wide death registry. Patients were excluded if they were taking anticoagulants or had inadequate documentation of their INR and medication status. Of the 1,039 patients identified, 94 (9 %) had an elevated INR (> 1.2) in the absence of anticoagulant use. These patients had higher mortality at six months follow-up (26 % vs 6 %, p< 0.001) compared to controls (INR ≤ 1.2). An INR > 1.2 at diagnosis was an independent predictor of death at six months post-PE (hazard ratio [HR] 2.9, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.8–4.7, p< 0.001). The addition of INR to a multivariable model that included the simplified pulmonary embolism severity index (sPESI), chest pain, and serum sodium led to a significant net reclassification improvement estimated at 8.1 %. The final model’s C statistic increased significantly by 0.04 (95 % CI 0.01–0.08, p=0.03) to 0.83 compared to sPESI alone (0.79). In summary, patients presenting with acute PE and elevated INR while not on anticoagulant therapy appear to be at high risk of death. Future validation studies in independent cohorts will clarify if this novel finding can be usefully incorporated into clinical decision making in patients with acute PE.

Predicting in-hospital death during acute presentation with pulmonary embolism to facilitate early discharge and outpatient management

Background

Pulmonary embolism continues to be a significant cause of death. The aim was to derive and validate a risk prediction model for in-hospital death after acute pulmonary embolism to identify low risk patients suitable for outpatient management.

Methods

A confirmed acute pulmonary embolism database of 1,426 consecutive patients admitted to a tertiary-center (2000–2012) was analyzed, with odd and even years as derivation and validation cohorts respectively. Risk stratification for in-hospital death was performed using multivariable logistic-regression modelling. Models were compared using receiver-operating characteristic-curve and decision curve analyses.

Results

In-hospital mortality was 3.6% in the derivation cohort (n = 693). Adding day-1 sodium and bicarbonate to simplified Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index (sPESI) significantly increased the C-statistic for predicting in-hospital death (0.71 to 0.86, P = 0.001). The validation cohort yielded similar results (n = 733, C-statistic 0.85). The new model was associated with a net reclassification improvement of 0.613, and an integrated discrimination improvement of 0.067. The new model also increased the C-statistic for predicting 30-day mortality compared to sPESI alone (0.74 to 0.83, P = 0.002). Decision curve analysis demonstrated superior clinical benefit with the use of the new model to guide admission for pulmonary embolism, resulting in 43 fewer admissions per 100 presentations based on a risk threshold for admission of 2%.

Conclusions

A risk model incorporating sodium, bicarbonate, and the sPESI provides accurate risk prediction of acute in-hospital mortality after pulmonary embolism. Our novel model identifies patients with pulmonary embolism who are at low risk and who may be suitable for outpatient management.

Predictors and Causes of Long-Term Mortality in Elderly Patients with Acute Venous Thromboembolism: A Prospective Cohort Study

BACKGROUND

Long-term predictors and causes of death are understudied in elderly patients with acute venous thromboembolism.

METHODS

We prospectively followed up 991 patients aged ≥65 years with acute venous thromboembolism in a multicenter Swiss cohort study. The primary outcome was overall mortality. We explored the association between patient baseline characteristics and mortality, adjusting for other baseline variables and periods of anticoagulation as a time-varying covariate. Causes of death over time were adjudicated by a blinded, independent committee.

RESULTS

The median age was 75 years. During a median follow-up period of 30 months, 206 patients (21%) died. Independent predictors of overall mortality were age (hazard ratio [HR], 1.32; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05-1.65, per decade), active cancer (HR, 5.80; 95% CI, 4.22-7.97), systolic blood pressure <100 mm Hg (HR, 2.77; 95% CI, 1.56-4.92), diabetes mellitus (HR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.02-2.22), low physical activity level (HR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.38-2.66), polypharmacy (HR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.01-1.96), anemia (HR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.07-2.05), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein >40 mg/L (HR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.36-2.60), ultra-sensitive troponin >14 pg/mL (HR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.06-2.25), and D-dimer >3000 ng/mL (HR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.04-2.01). Cancer (34%), pulmonary embolism (18%), infection (17%), and bleeding (6%) were the most common causes of death.

CONCLUSIONS

Elderly patients with acute venous thromboembolism have a substantial long-term mortality, and several factors, including polypharmacy and a low physical activity level, are associated with long-term mortality. Cancer, pulmonary embolism, infections, and bleeding are the most common causes of death in the elderly with venous thromboembolism.