Increased risk of pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis with COVID-19 pneumonia in comparison to influenza pneumonia: insights from the National Inpatient Sample database

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), primarily a respiratory virus causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia, induces a hypercoagulable state. Previous studies comparing the prevalence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and those with influenza pneumonia revealed a higher risk of pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) associated with COVID-19 pneumonia. However, these studies have not adequately accounted for the severity and acuity of the presenting viral pneumonia. In this retrospective study, we rigorously adjusted for critical illness using a nationally representative dataset to investigate whether COVID-19 pneumonia is independently linked to a higher risk of PE and DVT. After comprehensive multivariate adjustment, our findings demonstrated that patients with COVID-19 pneumonia maintained significantly higher odds of developing acute inpatient PE [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 2.48; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.16-2.86; P