Pulmonary embolism is more prevalent than deep vein thrombosis in cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and interstitial lung diseases

BACKGROUND: Chronic lung diseases may have an influence on pulmonary vessel walls as well as on pulmonary haemodynamics. However, there is limited data on the occurrence of pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in patients with chronic lung diseases, which have the potential to contribute to the development of pulmonary vascular abnormalities. We aimed to explore the prevalence of PE and DVT in patients with COPD and ILD. METHODS: We evaluated the venous thromboembolism prevalence associated with COPD and ILD using Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) data from January 2011 to December 2011. This database (HIRA-NPS-2011-0001) was created using random sampling of outpatients; 1,375,842 sample cases were collected, and 670,258 (age ≥40) cases were evaluated. Patients with COPD, ILDs, or CTD were identified using the International Classification of Disease-10 diagnostic codes. RESULTS: The PE prevalence rates per 100,000 persons for the study population with COPD, ILD, CTD, and the general population were 1185, 1746, 412, and 113, respectively, while the DVT prevalence for each group was 637, 582, 563, and 138, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: PE prevalence was significantly higher than that of DVT in patients with COPD or ILDs, while the prevalence of PE was lower than that for DVT in the general population or in patients with CTD.