External validation of the Pulmonary Embolism-Syncope, Anemia, and Renal Dysfunction bleeding score for early major bleeding in patients with acute pulmonary embolism: from the COMMAND VTE Registry-2.

Background: There is no established risk score for anticoagulant-related bleeding during the acute phase in patients with pulmonary embolism (PE). The PE-Syncope, Anemia, and Renal Dysfunction (PE-SARD) bleeding score was developed to predict early major bleeding but has not yet been fully externally validated.
Objectives: To externally validate the PE-SARD bleeding score.
Methods: Using the COntemporary ManageMent AND outcomes in patients with Venous ThromboEmbolism (COMMAND VTE) Registry-2 database, which enrolled 5197 consecutive acute symptomatic venous thromboembolism patients among 31 centers in Japan between January 2015 and August 2020, we identified acute PE patients. We divided them into 3 groups by the score: high-risk (>2.5 points), intermediate-risk (1-2.5 points), and low-risk (0 points). The discriminating and calibration performances of the score for 30-day major bleeding were assessed. Subgroup analyses based on active cancer were also performed.
Results: Of 2781 eligible patients, the high-risk group accounted for 557 patients (20%), intermediate-risk group for 1412 (51%), and low-risk group for 812 (29%). Major bleeding occurred in 121 patients within 30 days. The cumulative 30-day incidence of major bleeding substantially increased in the higher risk categories by the score (high-risk group, 8.2% [95% CI, 5.9%-10.5%]; intermediate-risk group, 4.6% [95% CI, 3.5%-5.7%]; and low-risk group, 1.8% [95% CI, 0.8%-2.7%]). The discriminating power of the score was modest with a C statistic of 0.65 (95% CI, 0.61-0.70), with a good calibration performance with a score of <4 points, except for that in active cancer patients.
Conclusion: The PE-SARD bleeding score had a modest discriminating performance with a limited calibration performance in acute PE patients without active cancer.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interests Y.N. received lecture fees from Bayer Healthcare, Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer, and Daiichi Sankyo. Y.Y. received lecture fees from Bayer Healthcare, Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer, and Daiichi Sankyo, and grant support from Bayer Healthcare and Daiichi Sankyo. T.M. reports lecturer’s fees from Bristol Myers Squibb, Daiichi Sankyo, Japan Lifeline, Kowa, Kyocera, Novartis, and Toray; manuscript fees from Bristol Myers Squibb and Kowa; advisory board for Sanofi. K. Kaneda received lecture fees from Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer, and Daiichi Sankyo. N.I. received lecture fees from Bayer Healthcare, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Daiichi Sankyo. S.I. received lecture fees from Bayer Healthcare, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Daiichi Sankyo. Y.O. received lecture fees from Bayer Healthcare, Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer, and Daiichi Sankyo, and research funds from Bayer Healthcare and Daiichi Sankyo. N.K. received lecture fees from Bayer Healthcare and grant support from Pfizer. All other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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