Characteristics, management and outcomes of central versus peripheral pulmonary embolism: a retrospective cohort...

The location of thrombus in acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is a debatable prognostic factor. We compared the characteristics and outcomes of hospitalized patients with central versus peripheral PE.

This retrospective study evaluated patients with acute PE diagnosed by CT pulmonary angiography who were hospitalized between 01/01/2016 and 31/12/2022. We compared patients with central (pulmonary trunk/main pulmonary artery) and peripheral (lobar/segmental/subsegmental) PE.

We studied 438 patients (median age: 63 years; PE diagnosis in the Emergency Department: 64.8%; PE peripheral in 305 patients [69.6%] and central in 133 [30.4%]). Patients with central PE had higher levels of troponin I and brain natriuretic peptide and more frequent right ventricular strain by CT pulmonary angiography/ echocardiography (72.1% versus 33.3%, p < 0.0001). PE mortality risk could be classified in 355 patients; 24.4% of the 238 patients with peripheral PE were intermediate-high/ high-risk compared with 63.3% of the 117 patients with central PE. Patients with central PE had more systemic thrombolysis (13/133 [9.8%] versus 6/305 [2.0%], p < 0.0001) and more advanced endovascular therapy (15/133 [11.3%] versus 2/305 [0.7%], p < 0.0001). All-cause hospital mortality rate was similar in patients with central and peripheral PE (5.3% and 6.6%, respectively; p = 0.61). On multivariable logistic regression analysis, central versus peripheral PE was not associated with hospital mortality (odds ratio 0.392, 95% confidence interval 0.128, 1.199).

The majority of patients with central PE and a minority of those with peripheral PE were classified as intermediate-high/ high-risk, however, the central thrombus location was not associated with an increased risk of mortality.