mortality trends and effects of acute pulmonary embolism on acute right heart failure patients: a nationwide perspective

Acute right ventricular failure is a significant cause of death, frequently overshadowed by left heart failure. Despite their frequent coexistence, no studies have correlated the relationship between acute pulmonary embolism (APE) and acute right heart failure (ARHF). Our analysis aims to establish a connection between them and evaluate the mortality trend.

We investigated NIS 2016–2020 to identify hospitalizations with ARHF. Using a multivariate model adjusted for age and gender, sex and national trends were calculated for mortality and cardiogenic shock among these patients.

A total of 1.8 million hospitalizations with RVHF were identified, with a mean age of 70 years. The trends in mortality and cardiogenic shock among these patients showed a steady increase. Of them, 42,569 patients had concomitant APE. The mortality is significantly higher among ARHF with APE (odds ratio (OR): 2.46, CI (confidence interval): 2.26-2.68, p<0.01). Cardiogenic shock, cardiac arrest, total charges, and LOS are also significantly higher among the concomitant acute PE group, as shown in Table 1 below.

In this study, we observed an increasing trend in ARHF mortalities and cardio›genic shock. We also discovered a high death rate among patients with concurrent APE. More research and diligent monitoring of patients with ARHF in the setting of APE is required to know more about these results.