Chest
Original ResearchPulmonary Vascular DiseaseIncreased Risk of Pulmonary Embolism Among US Decedents With Sarcoidosis From 1988 to 2007
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
Briefly, we used multiple cause-of-death files, compiled and manipulated annually by the National Center for Health Statistics, that were derived from all US death certificates from 1988 to 2007. The National Center for Health Statistics applies computer algorithms to the death certificate data to produce a standardized “record axis.” The record axis includes up to 20 associated causes of death, including the underlying cause of death. A full description of the methods has been published
Results
From 1988 to 2007, there were 46,450,489 deaths in the United States, and 23,679 multiple cause-of-death records contained a diagnostic code for sarcoidosis. Table 1 shows that among decedents with sarcoidosis, 602 (2.54%) had PE mentioned on their death certificates, compared with only 1.13% of the background population (P < .0001 for comparison). The association between sarcoidosis and PE was significant regardless of gender (women: OR, 1.76; 95% CI; 1.59-1.96, P ≤ .0001 and men: OR, 2.07;
Discussion
We analyzed > 46 million records of US decedents from 1988 to 2007 and found that the risk of PE among the 23,679 people coded with sarcoidosis was more than twofold greater than the risk of PE in the background population, regardless of gender, race, or age. Among decedents with sarcoidosis, the risk of PE was independent of gender or race; men were just as likely as women to have PE, and whites were equally as likely as blacks to have PE. Any decedent with sarcoidosis, except those 45 to 55
Conclusions
In the United States from 1988 to 2007, > 2.5% of the 23,679 decedents with sarcoidosis had PE, more than twice the percentage observed in the background population. This increased risk of PE was present for both genders, blacks and whites, and for every age group. Among sarcoidosis decedents, men were equally as likely as women, and blacks were equally as likely as whites, to develop PE. What is driving the risk of PE in sarcoidosis requires further exploration; meanwhile, PE should be
Acknowledgments
Author contributions: Dr Swigris: contributed to the conception and design of the study, analysis and interpretation of the data, and drafting of the manuscript for important intellectual content.
Dr Olson: contributed to the conception and design of the study, analysis and interpretation of the data, and drafting of the manuscript for important intellectual content.
Dr Huie: contributed to the conception and design of the study, analysis and interpretation of the data, and drafting of the
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Funding/Support: Dr Swigris is supported in part by a Career Development Award from the NIH [K23 HL092227].
Reproduction of this article is prohibited without written permission from the American College of Chest Physicians (http://www.chestpubs.org/site/misc/reprints.xhtml).