Baseline characteristics, management patterns and outcome in patients with pulmonary embolism and malignancy: insights from a single-centre study

Abstract

Background and aim: Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is one of the main causes of death in patients with active cancer. In this study, we evaluated the impact of malignancy on the treatment choices, and short- and long-term clinical outcomes in patients with acute PE. Methods: In this study, 872 acute PE patients (age 61.6 ± 16.8 years, female 57.5 %) from different risk and treatment categories were retrospectively analyzed and divided into two groups according to the presence of active malignancy. Results: Active malignancy was documented in 129 (14.8 %) out of the 872 patients. Ultrasound-assisted-thrombolysis (USAT), rheolytic-thrombectomy (RT), systemic-thrombolysis (ST) and anticoagulation-alone therapies were noted in 27.3 %, 6.4 %, 16.6 % and 49.7 % of overall PE patients. RT and anticoagulation therapies were more frequent in patients with malignancy whereas ST and USAT were more frequently used in the other group. Regardless of the presence of malignancy and the treatment modality chosen, significant improvements were achieved in all treatment targets (p < 0.001 for all). Bleeding rates were similar in both groups, while in-hospital and long-term mortality was higher in the malignancy cohort. Active malignancy was found to be an independent predictor for composite of 60-day mortality and PE-related rehospitalization (adjusted OR: 2.43; 95 % CI: 1.32–4.47, p = 0.04) and long-term mortality (adjusted HR: 2.25, 95 % CI: 1.29–3.91, p = 0.004). Conclusion: Concomitant malignancy adversely affects both short- and long-term outcomes in patients with acute PE. Although these patients are more vulnerable, it is possible to achieve satisfactory treatment success with acceptable bleeding rates with the inclusion of catheter-based methods as treatment option.