Pulmonary embolism in patients with COVID-19: incidence, risk factors, clinical characteristics, and outcome.

AIMS: We investigated the incidence, risk factors, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of pulmonary embolism (PE) in patients with COVID-19 attending emergency departments (EDs), before hospitalization. METHODS AND RESULTS: We retrospectively reviewed all COVID-19 patients diagnosed with PE in 62 Spanish EDs (20% of Spanish EDs, case group) during the first COVID-19 outbreak. COVID-19 patients without PE and non-COVID-19 patients with PE were included as control groups. Adjusted comparisons for baseline characteristics, acute episode characteristics, and outcomes were made between cases and randomly selected controls (1:1 ratio). We identified 368 PE in 74 814 patients with COVID-19 attending EDs (4.92‰). The standardized incidence of PE in the COVID-19 population resulted in 310 per 100 000 person-years, significantly higher than that observed in the non-COVID-19 population [35 per 100 000 person-years; odds ratio (OR) 8.95 for PE in the COVID-19 population, 95% confidence interval (CI) 8.51-9.41]. Several characteristics in COVID-19 patients were independently associated with PE, the strongest being D-dimer >1000 ng/mL, and chest pain (direct association) and chronic heart failure (inverse association). COVID-19 patients with PE differed from non-COVID-19 patients with PE in 16 characteristics, most directly related to COVID-19 infection; remarkably, D-dimer >1000 ng/mL, leg swelling/pain, and PE risk factors were significantly less present. PE in COVID-19 patients affected smaller pulmonary arteries than in non-COVID-19 patients, although right ventricular dysfunction was similar in both groups. In-hospital mortality in cases (16.0%) was similar to COVID-19 patients without PE (16.6%; OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.65-1.42; and 11.4% in a subgroup of COVID-19 patients with PE ruled out by scanner, OR 1.48, 95% CI 0.97-2.27), but higher than in non-COVID-19 patients with PE (6.5%; OR 2.74, 95% CI 1.66-4.51). Adjustment for differences in baseline and acute episode characteristics and sensitivity analysis reported very similar associations. CONCLUSIONS: PE in COVID-19 patients at ED presentation is unusual (about 0.5%), but incidence is approximately ninefold higher than in the general (non-COVID-19) population. Moreover, risk factors and leg symptoms are less frequent, D-dimer increase is lower and emboli involve smaller pulmonary arteries. While PE probably does not increase the mortality of COVID-19 patients, mortality is higher in COVID-19 than in non-COVID-19 patients with PE.

Criteria for admitting elderly patients with acute coronary syndrome to critical care units from Spanish hospital emergency departments: a LONGEVO-SCA cohort study. / Criterios de ingreso en unidades de críticos del paciente anciano con síndrome coronario agudo desde los servicios de urgencias hospitalarios de España. Estudio de cohorte LONGEVO-SCA.

OBJECTIVES: Information on criteria for admitting elderly patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) to intensive care units (ICUs) is scarce. We aimed to describe factors associated with ICU admission in unselected older patients with ACS in Spain. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The prospective LONGEVO-SCA registry (Impact of Frailty and Other Geriatric Syndromes on the Management of and Mortality in Elderly Patients With Non-ST-segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome) included unselected patients over the age of 80 years with non-ST-segment elevation SCA. A geriatric assessment of each patient was done in the hospital. Clinical outcomes at 6 months were analyzed. Bivariate logistic regression analysis was applied to identify ICU admission criteria. RESULTS: Of 508 patients with a mean age of 84.3 years, 150 (29.5%) were admitted to the ICU. The admitted patients were younger and more often had acute heart failure, elevated troponin levels, and poor left ventricular function. They also scored higher on the Acute Coronary Treatment and Intervention Outcomes Network-ICU (ACTION-ICU) and Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) risk scales. These patients had higher functional status scores and a lower prevalence of frailty and had more often undergone coronary angiography (P < .001). No differences in hospital mortality or outcomes at 6 months were detected between patients admitted or not admitted to ICUs. The following variables were independent predictors of ICU admission: no history of a previous episode of heart failure, an elevated troponin level on arrival, left ventricular dysfunction, high GRACE score and high Charlson Comorbidity Index, and absence of frailty. CONCLUSION: Around a third of elderly patients with non-ST-segment elevation ACS are admitted to an ICU. Admitted patients have a higher risk profile on arrival and a lower prevalence of geriatric syndromes.

OBJETIVO: La información sobre los condicionantes de ingreso en unidades de críticos (UC) de pacientes ancianos con síndrome coronario agudo (SCA) es escasa. El objetivo de este estudio fue describir los factores asociados al ingreso en UC en una serie de ancianos no seleccionados con SCA en España. METODO: El registro LONGEVO-SCA incluyó prospectivamente pacientes ≤ 80 años con SCA sin elevación del segmento ST (SCASEST), realizándose una valoración geriátrica intrahospitalaria y analizándose la evolución clínica a los 6 meses. Se analizaron los condicionantes de ingreso en UC mediante regresión logística binaria. RESULTADOS: De un total de 508 pacientes (edad media 84,3 años), 150 (29,5%) fueron ingresados en UC. Los pacientes ingresados en UC presentaban menor edad, mayor proporción de insuficiencia cardíaca aguda, troponina positiva y peor función ventricular izquierda, así como puntuaciones superiores en las escalas de riesgo GRACE y ACTION-ICU. Estos pacientes presentaban, asimismo, una mejor situación funcional y una menor prevalencia de fragilidad, y fueron sometidos a coronariografía con mayor frecuencia (p < 0,001). No se apreciaron diferencias en mortalidad hospitalaria ni evolución a los 6 meses entre ambos grupos. Los predictores independientes de ingreso en UC fueron la ausencia de insuficiencia cardíaca previa, troponina positiva al ingreso, disfunción ventricular izquierda, valores elevados en la escala GRACE y en el índice de Charlson, y ausencia de fragilidad. CONCLUSIONES: Alrededor de un tercio de los ancianos con SCASEST son ingresados en UC. Los pacientes ingresados en UC presentan mayor perfil de riesgo al ingreso y menor prevalencia de síndromes geriátricos.