DESCRIPTION OF THE CLINICAL AND RADIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PULMONARY EMBOLISM IN COVID-19 VERSUS NON COVID-19 PATIENTS: A MULTICENTRIC CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY OVER A 24-MONTH PERSPECTIVE

COVID-19 is associated with intense systemic inflammation and abnormal coagulation profile leading to an increased incidence of pulmonary embolism (PE). This study investigates whether PE in COVID-19 patients has different clinical, laboratory and radiological characteristics when compared to traditional PE in COVID negative patients. We conducted an observational, multicentric, cross-sectional study on consecutive patients diagnosed with PE at admission or during hospital stay from February 21th 2019 to February 20th 2021. We compared clinical and laboratory data and Computer Tomography (CT) images between COVID-19 positive and COVID-19 negative patients. The extent of PE was evaluated using the Qanadli Index. Among 771 enrolled patients with acute PE, 89 were COVID-19 positive. COVID-19 patients were predominantly male (59.6% vs. 41.5%; p=0.001) and exhibited fewer classic VTE risk factors, such as previous VTE (3.5% vs. 11.5%; p=0.02) and active cancer (4.7% vs. 24.2%; p