May 29, 2020

Excess Out-of-Hospital Deaths during COVID-19 Outbreak: Evidence of Pulmonary Embolism as a Main Determinant

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Clinical Characteristics and Health Care Setting

• Investigators in Paris, France found that pulmonary embolism identified by post-mortem CT was much higher among those who had unexplained deaths during the COVID-19 outbreak compared to a control group who had unexplained deaths in 2019. Furthermore, the prevalence of unexplained deaths was much higher during the COVID-19 outbreak compared to 2019. These results suggest the need for additional PPE when handling bodies of persons whose death was unexplained, and that pulmonary embolism should be explored in patients with severe COVID-19. 

Benzakoun et al. (May 28, 2020). Excess Out-of-Hospital Deaths during COVID-19 Outbreak: Evidence of Pulmonary Embolism as a Main Determinant. European Journal of Heart Failure. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejhf.1916