Prevalence of pulmonary embolism in patients with COVID 19 at the time of hospital admission

Jevnikar, Mitja; Sanchez, Olivier; Chocron, Richard; Andronikof, Marc; Raphael, Maurice; Meyrignac, Olivier; Fournier, Laure; Montani, David; Planquette, Benjamin; Soudani, Mary; Boucly, Athénaïs; Pichon, Jeremie; Preda, Mariana; Beurnier, Antoine; Bulifon, Sophie; Seferian, Andrei; Jaïs, Xavier; Sitbon, Olivier; Savale, Laurent; Humbert, Marc; Parent, Florence

A high prevalence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) has been reported during Intensive Care Unit (ICU) hospitalisation in patients with severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) [1, 2]. In most cases, the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE) was incidental as patients underwent computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) for aggravation of their respiratory condition. Higher mortality is also described in patients with high D-Dimer levels suggesting that VTE complication may contribute to unfavourable prognosis [3, 4]. Even though, prevalence of thromboembolic complications during ICU hospitalisation seems to be high, the prevalence of PE at hospital admission for COVID-19 is unknown and may be underestimated.