Pulmonary vascular disease & thromboembolism
Advanced reperfusion therapies for acute pulmonary embolism in pregnancy and postpartum
Authors' conclusion
Pregnancy-associated PE is rare but associated with high mortality in high-risk presentations. Advanced reperfusion therapies are used infrequently, reflecting the limited evidence, highlighting the need for multidisciplinary management, and further research and guidance.
Study context
- Population
- Pregnancy- and puerperium-related hospitalizations complicated by pulmonary embolismhospitalizations complicated by pulmonary embolism (PE), among 19,741,880 pregnancy- or puerperium-related hospitalizations
- Participants
- 12,715 participants
- Exposure
- Systemic thrombolysis (ST) vs catheter-directed therapy (CDT) vs venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO)
Methodological details2016 through 2020
- 2016 through 2020
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
PE incidence
Hospitalizations complicated by PE
12 715
0.06%
Hospitalizations per 10 000 live births
6.7
95% CI 6.6–6.8
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
In-hospital mortality by therapy
In-hospital mortality
- Overall in-hospital mortality rate
- 0.86%
- Deaths per 10 000 live births
- 0.058 [95% CI, 0.048-0.070]
- Among patients without haemodynamic instability
- 0.2%
- Among those with high-risk PE
- 29.1%
Use of advanced reperfusion therapies
- Of all pregnancy-associated PE cases
- 3.4%
- Of high-risk cases
- 32.7%
Safety
Major bleeding
Original publication
Advanced reperfusion therapies for acute pulmonary embolism in pregnancy and postpartum. Eur Heart J Acute Cardiovasc Care. Published 31 March 2026. doi:10.
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it