ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cardiovasc. Med.
Sec. Thrombosis and Haemostasis
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2025.1483968
Management of Intermediate High-Risk Pulmonary Embolism: A Single -Center Retrospective Study
Provisionally accepted- 1Florida Lung Asthma and Sleep Specialists, Kissimmee, United States
- 2Advent Health Orlando, Orlando, Florida, United States
- 3Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM), Philadelphia, United States
- 4Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee, United States
- 5School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California, United States
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Introduction: Approximately 25% of PE cases are intermediate-risk, with mortality rates between 5-25%. Management strategies for intermediate-risk PE remain inconsistent. This study compares clinical outcomes of intermediate high-risk PE patients receiving anticoagulation therapy alone (ACT) versus those receiving systemic reperfusion therapy (RT) plus anticoagulation. Methods: This retrospective study at AdventHealth hospitals in Central Florida included adult PE patients with right ventricular strain diagnosed from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2020. Exclusions were patients needing vasopressors or invasive ventilatory support at admission and those treated primarily with mechanical thrombectomy or catheter-directed thrombolytic therapy. Patients were divided into two groups: standard ACT and systemic RT plus ACT. Demographics, comorbidities, lab values, treatments, and outcomes were collected and compared. Results: Of 641 patients, 461 met inclusion criteria, with a median age of 65 and median BMI of 31.2. The cohort included 216 high-risk intermediate PE patients, with 52 patients receiving the thrombolytic therapy and 164 receiving the anticoagulation therapy. There was no significant difference in in-hospital (p = 0.450) or 30-day mortality rates (p = 0.591) between the two treatment groups. Secondary outcomes, including major bleeding (p = 0.569), use of vasopressors (p = 0.969), mechanical ventilation (p = 0.804), CPR (p = 0.450), or transfusion, also showed no significant difference. Notably, 23.2% of patients in the anticoagulation-only group required secondary thrombolytic therapy within 24 hours. Patients receiving systemic RT were younger (p = 0.017) and had a higher BMI (p = 0.012). Discussion: This study supports guidelines advising against routine use of RT for intermediate high-risk PE unless as rescue therapy. No mortality rate reduction or secondary outcome benefits were observed, highlighting the need for consistent management protocols and further research on therapeutic approaches for intermediate high-risk PE.
Keywords: Pulmonary Embolism, Intermediate pulmonary embolism, systemic thrombolysis, Anticoagulation therapy, systemic reperfusion therapy
Received: 21 Aug 2024; Accepted: 07 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Alabi, Ghaneie, Koury, Alkhateeb, Liu, Guo, Fawwaz, Cordero and Umeh. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Fortune O Alabi, Florida Lung Asthma and Sleep Specialists, Kissimmee, United States
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