Maternal mortality due to venous thromboembolism in France 2013-2015

Pregnancy and postpartum represent periods at very high risk of venous thromboembolism disease which appears to extend well beyond the classic 6-8 weeks after childbirth. Pulmonary embolism (PE) is still one of the three leading causes of direct maternal death (MM) in most developed countries. Between 2013 and 2015, 23 maternal deaths were caused by a venous thromboembolic complication (VTE) (20 pulmonary embolism and 3 cerebral thrombophlebitis), representing 8.8 % of maternal deaths and a Maternal Mortality Ratio of 1.0 per 100,000 live births (95 % CI 0.6-1, 4) which is stable over the last 10 years. Regarding the timing of death, 1 death occurred after abortion, 35 % (8/23) during an ongoing pregnancy (including four before 22 WG), and 61 % (14/23) after childbirth. Among the 23 deaths from VTE, 17 % (5/23) occurred outside a healthcare center (home, street). The mean age was 32.3 and 7 women (30 %) were≥35 years old. Six patients were obese (27 %). The preventability rate is 34.8 % (compared to 50 % in 2007-2009 and 2010-2012), The preventability factors involve the inadequacy of care in 34.8 % of cases (8/23), organizational factors in one case (1/23) and a lack of interaction of the patient with the health care system in two cases (2/23). Care was considered non-optimal in 59 % of these deaths. This proportion is higher than the preventability rate because suboptimal care sometimes did not influence the final outcome.