Clinical characteristics in 715 cancer patients with incidental pulmonary embolism, according to the presence or absence of metastases
| Metastases | No metastases | OR (95% CI) or p-value | |
| Patients n | 451 | 264 | |
| Clinical characteristics | |||
| Age years | 65±11 | 70±11 | |
| Male | 268 (59) | 165 (63) | 0.88 (0.64–1.20) |
| Body weight kg | 71±12 | 74±15 | |
| Additional risk factors for VTE | |||
| Surgery | 44 (9.8) | 40 (15) | 0.61 (0.38–0.96) |
| Immobility ≥4 days | 65 (14) | 39 (15) | 0.97 (0.63–1.49) |
| Oestrogen therapy | 24 (5.3) | 11 (4.2) | 1.29 (0.62–2.68) |
| None of the above | 322 (71) | 179 (68) | 1.19 (0.85–1.65) |
| Prior VTE | 31 (6.9) | 21 (8.0) | 0.85 (0.48–1.52) |
| Comorbidities | |||
| Chronic lung disease | 49 (11) | 29 (11) | 0.99 (0.61–1.61) |
| Chronic heart failure | 19 (4.2) | 13 (4.9) | 0.85 (0.41–1.75) |
| Creatinine clearance 30–60 mL·min−1 | 94 (21) | 66 (25) | 0.79 (0.55–1.13) |
| Creatinine clearance <30 mL·min−1 | 8 (1.8) | 8 (3.0) | 0.58 (0.21–1.56) |
| Recent major bleeding | 13 (2.9) | 14 (5.3) | 0.53 (0.25–1.15) |
| Anaemia | 294 (65) | 143 (54) | 1.58 (1.16–2.16) |
| WBC >11 000 cells·μL−1 | 87 (19) | 47 (18) | 1.10 (0.75–1.63) |
| Platelet count <100 000 per μL | 16 (3.5) | 8 (3.0) | 1.18 (0.50–2.79) |
| Platelet count >450 000 per μL | 34 (7.5) | 10 (3.8) | 2.07 (1.01–4.26) |
| Respiratory tests | |||
| Respiratory rate breaths·min−1 (n=358) | 18±3 | 17±6 | 0.326 |
| Respiratory rate >20 breaths·min−1 | 22 (9.0) | 12 (11) | 0.83 (0.40–1.74) |
| Heart rate beats·min−1 (n=633) | 82±15 | 84±19 | 0.168 |
| Heart rate >110 beats·min−1 | 20 (5.0) | 20 (8.7) | 0.55 (0.29–1.05) |
| Oxygen saturation % (n=197) | 95±7 | 94±6 | 0.581 |
| Oxygen saturation <90% | 7 (6.1) | 6 (7.2) | 0.84 (0.27–2.60) |
| Chest CT findings | |||
| Largest arteries involved | |||
| Segmental or subsegmental | 123 (27) | 84 (32) | 0.80 (0.58–1.12) |
| Pulmonary or lobar | 266 (59) | 129 (49) | 1.50 (1.11–2.04) |
| Not reported | 62 (14) | 51 (19) | 0.67 (0.44–1.00) |
Data are presented as mean±sd or n (%), unless otherwise stated. VTE: venous thromboembolism; WBC: white blood cell count; CT: computed tomography.