Higher mortality rate in patients hospitalised for acute pulmonary embolism during weekends

SummaryThe management of acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is often challenging and requires specific medical expertise, diagnostic techniques and therapeutic options that may not be available in all hospitals throughout the entire week. The aim of our study was to evaluate whether or not an association exists between weekday or weekend admission and mortality for patients hospitalised with acute PE. Using routinely collected hospital administrative data, we examined patients discharged with a diagnosis of PE from the hospitals of the Emilia- Romagna Region in Italy (January 1999-December 2009). The risk of inhospital death was calculated for admissions at the weekend and compared to weekday admissions. Of a total of 26,560 PEs, 6,788 (25.6%) had been admitted during weekends. PE admissions were most frequent on Mondays (15.8%) and less frequent on Saturdays and Sun- days/holidays (12.8%) (p