Population and Setting
We conducted a thirteen-years (January 2008 to December 2020)
retrospective study of PE cases admitted in the Pediatric Department or
Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary care hospital, in patients up to 18
years old. This is a metropolitan, university-affiliated hospital with a
catchment area of approximately 137.000 pediatric patients.
Cases were identified through discharge diagnostic codification, using
the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical
Modification (ICD‐9‐CM), including 415.1 (Pulmonary embolism and
infarction) and subsequent codes. Data was extracted from an
administrative database, which includes all cases with a length of stay
superior to 24 hours. Additionally, an autopsy-diagnosed case that
presented as a cardiac arrest was included for outcomes purposes, but no
further data was possible to obtain. In the remaining cases, PE
diagnosis was confirmed by imagological criteria.
All available electronic medical records were thoroughly reviewed.
Follow up was maintained during a variable period from patient to
patient. The study was conducted following ethical norms and standards
according to Declaration of Helsinki, including Research Ethics Board of
the Hospital approval.