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. 2025 Mar 12;23:22. doi: 10.1186/s12959-025-00708-w

Table 1.

Characteristics of patients

All patients
N = 438
Peripheral PE
N = 305
Central PE
N = 133
P value
Age (years), median (Q1, Q3) 63.0 (44.0, 77.0) 61.0 (43.0, 77.0) 64.0 (47.0, 78.5) 0.39*

Male sex, N (%)

Female sex, N (%)

159 (36.3)

279 (63.7)

113 (37.0)

192 (63.0)

47 (34.6)

87 (65.4)

0.62

BMI (kg/m2), median (Q1, Q3)

Obesity 30–39.9 kg/m2 N (%)

Obesity ≥ 40 kg/m2, N (%)

29.4 (25.3, 35.0)

151 (34.6)

53 (12.1)

28.5 (24.8, 34.0)

99 (32.5)

29 (9.5)

31.2 (26.4, 38.3)

52 (39.4)

24 (18.2)

0.39*

0.16

0.01

Comorbid conditions, N (%)
Any comorbidity 327 (74.7) 225 (73.8) 102 (76.7) 0.52
Hypertension 192 (43.8) 139 (45.6) 53 (39.8) 0.27
Diabetes 224 (51.1) 156 (51.1) 68 (51.1) 1.0
Hyperlipidemia 132 (30.1) 92 (30.2) 40 (30.1) 0.99
Ischemic heart disease 39 (8.9) 32 (10.5) 7 (5.3) 0.08
Congestive heart failure 33 (7.5) 27 (8.9) 6 (4.5) 0.11
Chronic respiratory disease 10 (2.3) 7 (2.3) 3 (2.3) 1.0
Chronic kidney disease 48 (11.0) 432 (14.1) 5 (3.8) 0.001
Hemodialysis 33 (7.5) 29 (9.5) 4 (3.0) 0.02
Cancer 53 (12.1) 37 (12.1) 16 (12.0) 0.98
Previous VTE 54 (12.3) 32 (10.5) 22 (16.5) 0.08
Recent hospitalization (within 3 months), N (%) 125 (28.5) 89 (29.2) 36 (27.1) 0.65
Location in hospital when PE was diagnosed, N (%)
Emergency Department 284 (64.8) 202 (66.2) 82 (61.7) 0.20
Ward 138 (31.5) 95 (31.1) 43 (32.3)
Intensive care unit 16 (3.7) 8 (2.6) 8 (6.0)
Timing of diagnosis of PE, N (%)
within 48 h of presentation 346 (79.0) 237 (77.7) 109 (82.0) 0.32
after 48 h 92 (21.0) 68 (22.3) 24 (18.0) 0.32
Lowest systolic BP on the day of diagnosis (mmHg), median (Q1, Q3) 105 (94, 117) 106 (96, 117) 102 (92, 116) 0.03**
Patients with SBP < 90 mmHg, N (%) 62 (14.3) 35 (11.7) 27 (20.0) 0.02
Simplified PESI, median (Q1, Q3) 2 (1, 3) 2 (1, 2.5) 2 (1, 3) 0.01*
Simplified PESI score, N (%)
0 68 (15.5) 50 (16.4) 18 (13.5)
1 119 (27.2) 93 (30.5) 26 (19.5)
2 122 (27.9) 86 (28.2) 36 (27.1) 0.02
3 88 (20.1) 52 (17.0) 36 (27.1)
4 35 (8.0) 19 (6.2) 16 (12.0)
5 6 (1.4) 5 (1.6) 1 (0.8)
6 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)
Clot burden score, median (Q1, Q3) 4 (2, 7) 3 (2, 4) 8 (7, 8)  < 0.0001*
RV strain on CTPA, N (%) 105/294 (35.7) 35/196 (17.9) 70/98 (71.4)  < 0.0001
Echocardiographic findings, N (%)
Any RV strain*** 50/100 (50.0) 19/57 (33.3) 31/43 (72.1)  < 0.0001
Mild/moderate 18/40 (45.0) 7/15 (46.7) 11/25 (44.0) 0.87
Severe 22/40 (55.0) 8/15 (53.3) 14/25 (56.0) 0.87
Unclassified 10/50 4/19 6/31
Any RV dilatation*** 29/68 (42.6) 11/26 (42.3) 18/42 (42.8) 0.96
Mild/moderate 20/29 (69.0) 7/11 (63.6) 13/18 (72.2) 0.63
Severe 9/29 (31.0) 4/11 (36.4) 5/18 (27.8) 0.63
Reduction in RV function*** 77/143 (53.8) 35/86 (40.7) 42/57 (73.7) < 0.0001
Mild/moderate 42/57 (73.7) 22/31 (71.0) 20/26 (76.9) 0.61
Severe 15/57 (26.3) 9/31 (29.0) 6/26 (23.1) 0.61
Unclassified 20/77 4/35 16/42
Increased RV systolic pressure*** 87/113 (77.0) 39/62 (62.9) 48/52 (94.1) <0.0001
Estimated pressure (mmHg), median (Q1, Q3) 55 (45, 55) 50 (39, 56) 50 (39, 56) 0.84*
LV ejection fraction (%), median (Q1, Q3) 55 (55, 55) 55 (50, 55) 55 (55, 55) 0.003**
Pertinent laboratory findings within 24 h of CTPA, median (Q1, Q3)
Lowest hemoglobin (g/dL) 11.9 (10.1, 13.5) 9.8 (11.8, 13.2) 12.6 (10.8, 13.8) 0.004**
Lowest platelets × 109/L 252 (201, 349) 254 (203, 356) 246 (191, 342) 0.22**
Highest creatinine (µmol/L) 71.0 (60.0, 105.0) 70.0 (59.0, 106.5) 74.0 (62.0, 103.5) 0.48**
Highest D-Dimer (mg/L) 4.7 (2.2, 9.1) 3.6 (2.0, 6.5) 8.2 (3.5, 17.0)  < 0.0001**
Highest troponin I (pg/ml) 16.1 (9.0, 83.3) 9.0 (9.0, 41.4) 64.2 (15.3, 376.0)  < 0.0001**
Highest BNP (ng/L) 25.5 (7.0, 92.3) 18.3 (5.3, 64.6) 49.6 (14.3, 119.9)  < 0.0001**
Highest lactate (mmol/L) 1.9 (1.3, 2.8) 1.8 (1.2, 2.7) 2.2 (1.4, 3.1) 0.01**

BMI Body mass index, BNP Brain natriuretic peptide, BP Blood pressure, COPD Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, CTPA Computed tomography pulmonary angiogram, LV Left ventricle, PE Pulmonary embolism, PESI Pulmonary embolism severity index, Q1 First quartile, Q3 Third quartile, RV Right ventricle, VTE Venous thromboembolism

*Student t test

**Mann–Whitney U test

***The denominator represents the number of patients who had the variable assessed