Symptomatic Pulmonary Embolism Among Stroke Patients in Taiwan: A Retrospective Cohort Study

AbstractBackground: Stroke patients are at particular risk for developing pulmonary embolism (PE), which is a cardiovascular emergency associated with a high mortality rate. Little information is available on symptomatic PE in Asian stroke patients. Objective: To determine the frequency of symptomatic PE in ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke patients; to identify common characteristics and risk factors of symptomatic PE in Taiwanese stroke patients; and to compare the difference between fatal PE and nonfatal PE among these stroke patients. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of stroke patients admitted between January 2002 and December 2009 to a tertiary referral center in Northern Taiwan. We used the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes to identify eligible patients. We determined annual frequency and risk factors of symptomatic PE. We also compared the difference between ischemic stroke patients with fatal and nonfatal PE. Results: Among the admitt...