Mortality from Pulmonary Embolism in Patients with Post-Coronavirus Disease Syndrome

We conducted a search using the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) Provisional Multiple Cause of Death Data interface. For our analysis, we combined the ICD-10 code for pulmonary embolism (I26) with the secondary ICD-10 code for post-COVID (U09). We also incorporated variables such as “year,” “gender,” “age groups,” and “place of death” to refine our searches, which spanned in the period between October 2021 (i.e., after the official introduction of the ICD-10 code U09), to the most recent available date (i.e., December 29, 2024). A total number of 89 cases of PE deaths associated with the ICD-10 code for post-COVID-19 condition (U09) were identified in the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics database through the end of 2024 out of a total of 2,653 deaths with post-COVID-19 condition, resulting in a mortality rate for PE of 33.5 (95% confidence interval, 27.3–41.1) per 1,000 post-COVID-19 deaths. Of these, 57 occurred in 2023 (64%) and 32 in 2024 (36%;). The male-to-female ratio indicated a slight predominance for males (53 vs. 47%), whereas the majority of deaths occurred in individuals aged 65 years or older, accounting for 78% of cases, compared with 22% in those aged < 65 years. Regarding the place of death, the majority of patients (47%) died at home, followed by deaths in medical facilities (36%) and in nursing or long-term care homes (16%).