Of all inpatients, 185 (0.37%) were diagnosed with PE after contrast-enhanced chest CT examination. The rate of discovering PE was significantly greater in women (0.48%, 93/19,409) than men (0.29%, 92/31,212) (P = 0.0008). Table 1 show the number of patients with PE by sex and age group.
Table 1
Distribution of the number of patients by age and sex
Age(y) | Male(%) | Female(%) |
10–19 | 1(1) | 0(0) |
20–29 | 1(1) | 1(1) |
30–39 | 8(9) | 2(2) |
40–49 | 14(15) | 7(8) |
50–59 | 15(16) | 11(12) |
60–69 | 18(20) | 15(16) |
70–79 | 18(20) | 27(29) |
80–89 | 13(14) | 24(26) |
90–99 | 4(4) | 6(6) |
In men, the number of patients increased gradually from the 30 s age group and reached a peak around the 60–70 s age group. In contrast, in women, the number increased from the 40 s age group, with a relatively steep peak at the 70–80 s age group. In men, the rate of discovering PE was not different between those under age 60 years (0.34%, 39/11,609) and those 60 years and older (0.27%, 53/19,603) (P = 0.33). In contrast, in women, the rate was significantly greater in those 60 years and older (0.65%, 72/11,009) than in those under 60 years of age (0.25%, 21/8,400) (P < 0.0001).
Of the 185 patients with PE, 173 (94%) had some type of risk factor (Table 2).
Table 2
Patient’s characteristics(n = 185)
Sex(%) | |
Male | 92(50) |
Female | 93(50) |
Median(range) | |
Age, years | 69.5(17–99) |
Body mass index (BMI), kg/㎡ | 22.85(14.20-34.35) |
n of patient’s risk factor (%) | 248 |
BMI ≧ 25 kg/㎡ | 38(15) |
Long-term bed rest | 35(14) |
Sitting for a long time | 5(2) |
Cardiopulmonary disease | 9(4) |
Trauma, Fracture, Cast fixed | 19(8) |
Central venous catheter | 1(0) |
Surgery | 12(5) |
Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome and collagen disease | 9(4) |
Past medical history of VTE | 2(1) |
Cancer | 48(19) |
OCs, LEP, Steroids | 8(3) |
Infection | 35(14) |
Inflammatory enteric disease | 3(1) |
Polycythemia | 2(1) |
Protein C or S deficiency | 2(1) |
Dehydration | 8(3) |
No risk factor | 12(5) |
Although there were no significant differences between men and women in the percentage of patients with each PE risk factor, long-term bed rest was more common in women, at 16%, compared with men, at 12%, and trauma/fracture/cast fixation was more common in men, at 10%, than in women, at 6%. A total of 35 (92%) obese patients had another risk factor. For both men and women, the most frequent risk factor was a malignant tumor, followed by infection and trauma/fracture/cast fixation for men and long-term bed rest and infection for women. The risk factor for the development of PE could not be identified in 12 patients (Table 3).
Table 3
The risk factors of patients diagnosed with PE
| Risk factor | Male (%) | Female (%) | P-value |
Blood flow stagnation | Obesity | 20(16) | 18(14) | 0.015 |
Long-term bed rest | 15(12) | 20(16) | 0.043 |
Cardiopulmonary disease | 3(2) | 6(5) | 0.042 |
Trauma, Fracture, Cast fixed | 12(10) | 7(6) | 0.063 |
Central venous catheter | 0(0) | 1(1) | 1.00 |
Sitting for a long time | 2(2) | 3(2) | 1.00 |
Vascular endothelial disorder | Surgery | 5(4) | 7(6) | 0.017 |
Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome and collagen disease | 6(5) | 3(2) | 0.045 |
Past medical history of VTE | 1(1) | 1(1) | 1.00 |
Hypercoagulability | Cancer | 24(20) | 24(20) | 1,00 |
OCs, LEP, Steroids | 2(2) | 6(5) | 0.067 |
Infection | 19(15) | 16(13) | 0.026 |
Inflammatory enteric disease | 1(1) | 2(2) | 1.00 |
Polycythemia | 1(1) | 1(1) | 1.00 |
Protein C or Protein S deficiency | 2(2) | 0(0) | 1.00 |
Dehydration | 3(2) | 5(4) | 0.021 |
No risk factor | 7(6) | 5(4) | 0.021 |
Of the 48 patients with PE and a malignant tumor, patients with lung cancer were the most common, accounting for 35% of the 48 patients. The rate of discovering PE by cancer type was greatest in ovarian cancer, at 3.3%, followed by endometrial cancer, at 2.4% (Table 4). The rate of discovering PE in ovarian cancer was not significantly different from that of endometrial cancer, gallbladder cancer, and lung cancer, but it was significantly greater compared with that of colon cancer, stomach cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, kidney cancer, and cervical cancer (P = 0.0001 to 0.01).
Table 4
Numbers and incidence of patients with PE by each cancer type
Cancer type | Number of hospitalized patients | Number of patients with PE(%) |
Ovarian cancer | 152 | 5(3.3) |
Endometrial cancer | 122 | 3(2.4) |
Gallbladder cancer | 89 | 2(2.2) |
Lung cancer | 1.258 | 17(1.4) |
Colon cancer | 1.177 | 9(0.8) |
Gastric cancer | 693 | 3(0.4) |
Breast cancer | 1.109 | 5(0.5) |
Prostate cancer | 881 | 3(0.3) |
Kidney cancer | 816 | 1(0.1) |
Cervical cancer | 287 | 0(0) |
Of the 12 patients whose clear PE-inducing factor could not be identified, one had a mental illness and was taking an antipsychotic agent.