Medical history and baseline characteristics of the study patients
| All study patients | Copeptin <14 pmol·L−1 | Copeptin ≥14 pmol·L−1 | p-value | |
| Subjects n | 268 | 134 | 134 | |
| Male | 128 (47.8) | 58 (43.3) | 70 (52.2) | 0.178 |
| Age years | 70.5 (53–77) | 62.5 (46–74) | 72.5 (64–79) | <0.001 |
| BMI kg·m−2 | 27.8 (24.8–31.2) | 28.0 (25.0–32.1) | 27.6 (24.5–30.6) | 0.300 |
| Risk factors for VTE | ||||
| History of VTE | 85/267 (31.8) | 50/133 (37.6) | 35 (26.1) | 0.049 |
| Previous trauma/surgery# | 55 (20.5) | 28 (20.9) | 27 (20.1) | 1.000 |
| Travel/immobilisation# | 67 (25.0) | 31 (23.1) | 36 (26.9) | 0.573 |
| Pregnancy/post-partum¶ | 1 (0.4) | 1 (0.7) | 0 (0) | 1.000 |
| Unprovoked PE+ | 160 (59.7) | 78 (58.2) | 82 (61.2) | 0.709 |
| Comorbidities | ||||
| Malignant tumour§ | 37 (13.8) | 15 (11.2) | 22 (16.4) | 0.288 |
| Chronic cardiopulmonary disease | 93 (34.7) | 35 (26.1) | 58 (43.3) | 0.005 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 49 (18.3) | 15 (11.2) | 34 (25.4) | 0.004 |
| Anaemia | 91 (34.0) | 41 (30.6) | 50 (37.3) | 0.302 |
| Renal insufficiency | 73 (27.2) | 23 (17.2) | 50 (37.3) | <0.001 |
| Symptoms and clinical status on admission | ||||
| Symptom onset <24 h | 130 (48.5) | 54 (40.3) | 76 (56.7) | 0.010 |
| Chest pain | 155/267 (58.1) | 86/133 (64.7) | 69 (51.5) | 0.035 |
| Dyspnoea | 233/267 (87.3) | 116/133 (87.2) | 117 (87.3) | 1.000 |
| Syncope | 32 (11.9) | 7 (5.2) | 25 (18.7) | 0.001 |
| Systolic blood pressure mmHg | 130 (120–150) | 130 (120–150) | 130 (120–141) | 0.017 |
| Mild hypotension | 19/262 (7.3) | 6/130 (4.6) | 13/132 (9.8) | 0.152 |
| Heart rate bpm | 88 (74.25–105) | 84 (75.5–97.5) | 91 (73.5–110.0) | 0.042 |
| Tachycardia | 80/264 (30.3) | 31/132 (23.5) | 49/132 (37.1) | 0.022 |
| Hypoxia | 62/224 (27.7) | 21/107 (19.6) | 41/117 (35.0) | 0.011 |
| RV dysfunction on echocardiography | 77/157 (49.0) | 29/69 (42.0) | 48/88 (54.5) | 0.148 |
| RV dysfunction on MDCT | 111/255 (43.5) | 45/130 (34.6) | 66/125 (52.8) | 0.004 |
| Laboratory biomarkers | ||||
| hsTnT pg·mL−1 | 24.6 (8.6–57.9) | 11.2 (4.9–43.8) | 36.1 (15.1–73.7) | <0.001 |
| hsTnT ≥14 pg·mL−1 | 166/266 (62.4) | 61/132 (46.2) | 105/134 (78.4) | <0.001 |
| NT-proBNP pg·mL−1 | 687 (122–2564) | 309 (74–1640) | 1238 (290–3775) | <0.001 |
| NT-proBNP ≥600 pg·mL−1 | 138/267 (51.7) | 55/134 (41.0) | 83/133 (62.4) | 0.001 |
| Risk assessment models | ||||
| ESC 2014 algorithm | ||||
| Low | 47 (17.5) | 41 (30.6) | 6 (4.5) | <0.001 |
| Intermediate–low | 135 (50.4) | 63 (47.0) | 72 (53.7) | 0.328 |
| Intermediate–high | 86 (32.1) | 30 (22.4) | 56 (41.8) | 0.001 |
| Bova scoreƒ | ||||
| Low | 130 (48.7) | 84 (62.7) | 46 (34.6) | <0.001 |
| Intermediate–low | 93 (34.8) | 41 (30.6) | 52 (39.1) | 0.159 |
| Intermediate–high | 44 (16.5) | 9 (6.7) | 35 (26.3) | <0.001 |
Data are presented as n, n (%), median (interquartile range) or n/N (%), unless otherwise stated. Risk factors, comorbidities, symptoms, haemodynamics, laboratory values and PE severity classification in all study patients and according to the median copeptin level are presented. BMI: body mass index; VTE: venous thromboembolism; PE: pulmonary embolism; bpm: beats per minute; RV: right ventricular; MDCT: multidetector computed tomography; hsTnT: high-sensitivity troponin T; NT-proBNP: N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide; ESC: European Society of Cardiology. #: within the past 4 weeks; ¶: 6 weeks after delivery; +: defined as absence of a temporary or reversible risk factor such as surgery, trauma, immobilisation, travel, contraception/hormone replacement therapy or pregnancy; §: defined as active or under treatment within the past 6 months; ƒ: one patient could not be classified using the Bova score due to missing data. Definitions are provided in the material and methods section of the online supplementary material.