Trends in Treatment Patterns and Outcomes of Patients With Pulmonary Embolism in Japan, 2010 to 2020: A Nationwide Inpatient Database Study

BACKGROUND: The impact of major changes in the treatment practice of pulmonary embolism (PE), such as limited indications for systemic thrombolysis and the introduction of direct oral anticoagulants, is not well documented. This study aimed to describe annual trends in the treatment patterns and outcomes in patients with PE. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using the Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination inpatient database from April 2010 to March 2021, we identified hospitalized patients with PE. Patients with high‐risk PE were defined as those admitted for out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest or who received cardiopulmonary resuscitation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, vasopressors, or invasive mechanical ventilation on the day of admission. The remaining patients were defined as patients with non–high‐risk PE. The patient characteristics and outcomes were reported with fiscal year trend analyses. Of 88 966 eligible patients, 8116 (9.1%) had high‐risk PE, and the remaining 80 850 (90.9%) had non–high‐risk PE. Between 2010 and 2020, in patients with high‐risk PE, the annual proportion of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use significantly increased from 11.0% to 21.3%, whereas that of thrombolysis use significantly decreased from 22.5% to 15.5% (P for trend <0.001 for both). In‐hospital mortality significantly decreased from 51.0% to 43.7% (P for trend=0.04). In patients with non–high‐risk PE, the annual proportion of direct oral anticoagulant use increased from 0.0% to 38.3%, whereas that of thrombolysis use significantly decreased from 13.7% to 3.4% (P for trend <0.001 for both). In‐hospital mortality significantly decreased from 7.9% to 5.4% (P for trend <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Substantial changes in the PE practice and outcomes occurred in patients with high‐risk and non–high‐risk PE.