High incidence of pulmonary thromboembolism in hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 infected patients despite thrombo-prophylaxis.
D El-Qutob, L Alvarez-Arroyo, I Barreda and 4 others
PMID 35180507WHAT IT FOUND
Hospitalized patients scanned for pulmonary embolism had similar PE rates with or without SARS-CoV-2.
Infected patients with PE were younger and had higher CK and troponin T, but PE itself was not more common.
Key findings
01PE was diagnosed in 28.6% of infected and 27.8% of non-infected scanned patients, with no significant difference.
02Infected patients with PE had a median age of 47.8 years, versus 73.3 years in infected patients without PE.
03Among patients with PE, infected patients had significantly higher total CK and troponin T than non-infected patients.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Small sample size, especially few infected patients with PE. CTPA was done only when PE was suspected, not in all hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 patients, so the study cannot estimate true PE prevalence. Single-center retrospective study with no informed consent and no data sharing. The groups were not matched for all comorbidities; non-infected patients had more congestive heart failure and prior anticoagulant treatment. Mortality was low and not different between groups, so outcome effects cannot be assessed.
Declared interests
The authors report no funding sources and no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that SARS-CoV-2 infection increased PE risk in hospitalized patients. Among those scanned, PE was found in 28.6% of infected and 27.8% of non-infected patients, with no significant difference.