Table 2.
Characteristics of the acute episode of COVID-19 patients with pulmonary embolism compared with COVID-19 patients without pulmonary embolism (control groups A1 and A2) and non-COVID-19 patients with pulmonary embolism (control group B)
| Cases (COVID-19 + PE) N = 368 n (%) | Control group A1 (COVID-19 non-PE) N = 368 n (%) | P-valuea | Control group A2 (COVID-19 non-PE) N = 368 n (%) | P-valueb | Control group B (non-COVID-19 + PE) N = 368 n (%) | P-valuec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symptoms at ED arrival | |||||||
| Duration of symptoms (days) [median (IQR)] | 7(3–12) | 7(3–10) | 0.18 | 7(4–10) | 0.72 | 3(1–7) | <0.001 |
| Duration of symptoms >7 days | 156(42.4) | 128(34.8) | 0.03 | 148(40.5) | 0.61 | 64(17.4) | <0.001 |
| Dyspnoea | 263(71.5) | 201(54.6) | <0.001 | 224(60.9) | 0.002 | 251(68.2) | 0.34 |
| Cough | 176(47.8) | 211(57.3) | 0.01 | 240(65.2) | <0.001 | 47(12.8) | <0.001 |
| Fever (>38°C) | 165(44.8) | 219(59.5) | <0.001 | 222(60.3) | <0.001 | 20(5.4) | <0.001 |
| Chest pain | 111(30.2) | 44(12.0) | <0.001 | 64(17.4) | <0.001 | 132(35.9) | 0.10 |
| Diarrhoea | 60(16.3) | 62(16.8) | 0.84 | 78(21.2) | 0.09 | 7(1.9) | <0.001 |
| Leg swelling or pain | 53(14.4) | 14(3.8) | <0.001 | 20(5.4) | <0.001 | 128(34.8) | <0.001 |
| Expectoration | 38(10.3) | 54(14.7) | 0.08 | 55(14.9) | 0.06 | 28(7.6) | 0.20 |
| Confusion | 30(8.2) | 27(7.3) | 0.68 | 15(4.1) | 0.021 | 20(5.4) | 0.14 |
| Vomiting | 24(6.5) | 24(6.5) | 1.00 | 22(6.0) | 0.761 | 8(2.2) | 0.004 |
| Dysgeusia | 21(5.7) | 28(7.6) | 0.30 | 31(8.4) | 0.15 | 2(0.5) | <0.001 |
| Anosmia | 20(5.4) | 23(6.3) | 0.64 | 35(9.5) | 0.035 | 1(0.3) | <0.001 |
| Abdominal pain | 20(5.4) | 18(4.9) | 0.74 | 17(4.6) | 0.61 | 23(6.3) | 0.64 |
| Rhinorrhea | 17(4.6) | 24(6.5) | 0.26 | 14(3.8) | 0.58 | 6(1.6) | 0.02 |
| Syncope | 15(4.1) | 15(4.1) | 1.00 | 14(3.8) | 0.85 | 48(13.0) | <0.001 |
| Hemoptysis | 8(2.2) | 2(0.5) | 0.06 | 5(1.4) | 0.40 | 8(2.2) | 1.00 |
| Signs at ED arrival | |||||||
| Room air pulsioxymetry <95% (368/362/368/366) | 168(45.7) | 132(36.5) | 0.01 | 188(51.4) | 0.12 | 153(41.6) | 0.27 |
| Respiratory rate > 20 b.p.m.. (363/351/355/328) | 162(44.6) | 112(31.9) | <0.001 | 133(40.5) | 0.28 | 92(25.9) | <0.001 |
| Heart rate >100 b.p.m. (368/359/368/365) | 123(33.4) | 80(22.3) | 0.001 | 106(29.0) | 0.20 | 132(35.9) | 0.49 |
| Temperature >38°C (367/360/367/362) | 72(19.6) | 83(23.1) | 0.26 | 92(25.4) | 0.09 | 28(7.6) | <0.001 |
| SBP <100 mmHg (367/357/368/362) | 28(7.6) | 22(6.2) | 0.44 | 31(8.6) | 0.64 | 22(6.0) | 0.37 |
| Laboratory findings (N/N/N/N)d | |||||||
| D-dimer (ng/mL) [median (IQR)] (338/274/345/286) | 4,894(1,678–10,810) | 655(360–1,280) | <0.001 | 1,100(500–3,740) | <0.001 | 4,841(1,872–10,000) | <0.001 |
| D-dimer >1000 ng/mL | 281(83.1) | 96(35.0) | <0.001 | 183(53.0) | <0.001 | 264(92.3) | 0.001 |
| C-reactive protein >5 mg/dL (350/318/356/260) | 223(63.7) | 177(55.7) | 0.03 | 228(64.0) | 0.93 | 105(40.4) | <0.001 |
| Lactate dehydrogenase >300 U/L (296/260/311/137) | 156(52.7) | 109(41.9) | <0.001 | 169(54.3) | 0.69 | 52(38.0) | 0.004 |
| NT-proBNP >500 pg/mL (88/50/54/94) | 43(48.9) | 20(40.0) | 0.32 | 29(53.7) | 0.575 | 58(61.7) | 0.08 |
| Lymphocyte count <1 × 103 cells/μL (365/336/366/344) | 141(40.8) | 131(41.1) | 0.93 | 196(53.6) | 0.254 | 79(23.0) | <0.001 |
| Leukocyte count >10 × 103 cells/μL (346/319/288/344) | 142(38.9) | 60(17.9) | <0.001 | 84(22.8) | <0.001 | 134(36.7) | 0.54 |
| Increased troponin (>99th percentile) (331/296/246/305) | 95(36.5) | 30(22.4) | <0.004 | 39(15.9) | <0.001 | 116(46.8) | 0.02 |
| Aspartate animo transferase >40 U/L (302/275/307/173) | 106(35.1) | 89(32.4) | 0.49 | 115(37.5) | 0.55 | 32(18.5) | <0.001 |
| Platelets >300 × 103 elements/μL (361/333/349/364) | 110(30.5) | 46(13.8) | <0.001 | 81(23.2) | 0.029 | 63(17.3) | <0.001 |
| Creatinine >1.3 mg/dL (360/334/341/362) | 64(17.8) | 47(14.1) | 0.18 | 125(36.7) | <0.001 | 59(16.3) | 0.60 |
| Haemoglobin <120 g/L (363/336/365/363) | 62(17.1) | 59(17.6) | 0.87 | 55(15.1) | 0.46 | 96(26.4) | 0.002 |
| Bilirubin >1 mg/dL (282/239/287/164) | 44(15.6) | 26(10.9) | 0.12 | 79(27.5) | 0.001 | 20(12.2) | 0.32 |
| Chest X-ray (N/N/N/N)d | |||||||
| Ground-glass lung opacities (358/357/357/294) | 234(65.4) | 205(57.4) | 0.03 | 275(75.8) | 0.007 | 41(13.9) | <0.001 |
| Interstitial lung infiltrates (bilateral) (358/357/363/294) | 175(48.9) | 161(45.1) | 0.31 | 147(41.2) | 0.025 | 21(7.1) | <0.001 |
| Cardiomegaly (358/357/360/294) | 28(7.8) | 35(9.8) | 0.35 | 55(15.3) | 0.005 | 56(19.0) | <0.001 |
| Pleura effusion (358/357/359/294) | 28(7.8) | 14(3.9) | 0.03 | 25(7.0) | 0.56 | 45(15.3) | 0.003 |
| ECG (N/N/N/N)d | |||||||
| Atrial fibrillation (310/233/70/287) | 16 (5.2) | 20 (8.6) | 0.11 | 7 (10.0) | 0.13 | 17 (5.9) | 0.68 |
Bold values denote statistically significant differences (P < 0.05).
a
Comparison between cases and control group A1.
b
Comparison between cases and control group A2.
c
Comparison between cases and control group B.
d
(N/N/N/N) indicates the number of patients for whom these data were available in case/control A1/control A2/control B groups; when this is not indicated, all patients of the four groups had data (no missing values).
ED, emergency department; IQR, interquartile range; SBP, systolic blood pressure; NT-proBNP, N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide; ECG, electrocardiogram; PE, pulmonary embolism.