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The efficacy and safety of managing patients with low-risk pulmonary embolism (PE) without hospitalization requires objective data from US medical centers. We sought to determine the 90-day composite rate of recurrent symptomatic VTE, major bleeding events, and all-cause mortality among consecutive patients diagnosed with acute low-risk PE managed without inpatient hospitalization; and to measure patient satisfaction.We performed a prospective cohort single-arm management study conducted from January 2013 to October 2016 in five EDs. We enrolled 200 consecutive adults diagnosed with objectively confirmed acute PE and assessed to have a low risk for mortality using the Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index (PESI) score (86), echocardiography, and whole-leg compression ultrasound (CUS). The primary intervention was observation in the ED or hospital (observation status) for12 to 24 h, followed by outpatient management with Food and Drug Administration-approved therapeutic anticoagulation. Patients were excluded for a PESI ≥ 86, echocardiographic signs of right heart strain, DVT proximal to the popliteal vein, hypoxia, hypotension, hepatic or renal failure, contraindication to therapeutic anticoagulation, or another condition requiring hospital admission. The primary outcome was 90-day composite rate of all-cause mortality, recurrent symptomatic VTE, and major bleeding.The composite outcome occurred in one of 200 patients (90-day composite rate = 0.5%; 95% CI, 0.02%-2.36%). No patient suffered recurrent VTE or died during the 90-day follow-up period. A major bleed occurred in one patient. Patients indicated a high level of satisfaction with their care.Treatment of carefully selected patients with acute PE and low risk by PESI 86, echocardiography, and CUS without inpatient hospitalization is safe and acceptable to patients. Results must be viewed with caution because of the small sample size relative to the end point and the generalizability surrounding availability of emergent echocardiography.ClinicalTrials.gov; No.: NCT02355548; URL: www.clinicaltrials.gov.

Guidelines suggest anticoagulation of patients with high pretest probability of pulmonary embolism (PE) while awaiting diagnostic test results (preemptive anticoagulation). Data relevant to the practice of preemptive anticoagulation are not available.We reviewed 3,500 consecutive patients who underwent CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) at two EDs. We classified the pretest probability for PE using the revised Geneva Score (RGS) as low (RGS 0-3), intermediate (RGS 4-10), or high (RGS 11-18). We classified patients with a high pretest probability of PE as receiving preemptive anticoagulation if therapeutic anticoagulation was given before CTPA completion. Patients with a high bleeding risk and those receiving treatment for DVT before CTPA were excluded from the preemptive anticoagulation analysis. We compared the time elapsed between ED registration and CTPA completion for patients with a low, intermediate, and high pretest probability for PE.We excluded three of 3,500 patients because CTPA preceded ED registration. Of the remaining 3,497 patients, 167 (4.8%) had a high pretest probability for PE. After excluding 29 patients for high bleeding risk and 21 patients who were treated for DVT prior to CTPA, only two of 117 patients (1.7%) with a high pretest probability for PE received preemptive anticoagulation. Furthermore, 37 of the remaining 115 patients (32%) with a high pretest probability for PE had a preexisting indication for anticoagulation but did not receive preemptive anticoagulation. The time from ED registration to CTPA completion did not differ based on the pretest probability of PE.Physicians rarely use preemptive anticoagulation in patients with a high pretest probability for PE. Clinicians do not expedite CTPA examinations for patients with a high pretest probability for PE.