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

Table 3.

Management of patients with acute PE

Variables All patients
N = 438
Peripheral PE
N = 305
Central PE 
N = 133
P value
Troponin I measured, N (%) 374 (85.4) 257 (84.3)  117 (88.0) 0.31
BNP measured, N (%) 326 (74.4) 221 (72.5) 105 (78.9) 0.15
Echocardiography performed, N (%) 167 (38.1) 96 (31.5) 71 (53.4)  < 0.0001
Lower limb Doppler ultrasound, N (%) 131 (29.9) 82 (26.9) 49 (36.8) 0.04
DVT present, N (%) 51/131 (38.9) 26/82 (31.7) 25/49 (51.0) 0.03
Systemic anticoagulation, N (%) 434 (99.1) 301 (98.7) 133 (100.0) 0.19
Systemic thrombolysis, N (%) 19 (4.3) 6 (2.0) 13 (9.8)  < 0.0001
50 mg tPA 9/19 (47.4) 2/6 (33.3) 7/13 (53.8) 0.63
100 mg tPA 10/19 (52.6) 4/6 (66.7) 6/ 13 (46.2) 0.63
Any endovascular treatment, N (%) 17 (3.9) 2 (0.7) 15 (11.3)  < 0.0001
Catheter-directed thrombolysis 13 (3.0) 2 (0.7) 11 (8.3)  < 0.0001
Mechanical thrombectomy 12 (2.7) 1 (0.3) 11 (8.3)  < 0.0001
Surgical thrombectomy, N (%) 1 (0.2) 0 (0) 1 (0.8) 0.30
Inferior vena cava filter, N (%) 29 (6.6) 15 (4.9) 14 (10.5) 0.03
Respiratory support on the day of diagnosis, N (%)
Room air or simple oxygen therapy 423 (96.6) 296 (97.0) 127 (95.5)
Non-invasive ventilation 8 (1.8) 6 (2.0) 2 (1.5) 0.29
Invasive mechanical ventilation 7 (1.6) 3 (1.0) 4 (3.0)
Fraction of inspired oxygen (%), median (Q1, Q3) 21 (21, 28) 21 (21, 28) 24 (21, 28) 0.003
Admission to the ICU, N (%) 110 (25.1) 58 (19.0) 52 (39.1)  < 0.0001
Vasopressor use during hospital stay, N (%) 32 (7.3) 19 (6.2) 13 (9.8) 0.19
Invasive mechanical ventilation during hospital stay, N (%) 38 (8.7) 23 (7.5) 15 (11.3) 0.20

BNP B-type natriuretic peptide, DVT Deep-vein thrombosis, ICU Intensive care unit, PE Pulmonary embolism, Q1 First quartile, Q3 Third quartile, tPA tissue plasminogen activator