Objective: To determine the incidence, characteristics, and risk factors of pulmonary embolism (PE) among patients hospitalized for COVID-19. Patients and Methods: We performed a prospective observational study of a randomly selected cohort of consecutive patients hospitalized for COVID-19 infection between March 8, 2020 through April 25, 2020. All eligible patients underwent a computed tomography pulmonary angiography independently of their PE clinical suspicion and were pre-screened for a baseline elevated D-dimer level. Results: 119 patients were randomly selected from the 372 admitted to one tertiary hospital in Valencia (Spain) for COVID-19 infection during the period of study. Seventy-three patients fulfilled both the inclusion criteria and none of the exclusion criteria and were finally included in the study. Despite a high level of pharmacological thromboprophylaxis (89%), the incidence of PE was 35.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 29.6 to 41.6%), mostly with a peripheral location and low thrombotic load (Qanadli score 18.5%). Multivariate analysis showed that heart rate (Hazard Ratio [HR], 1.04), room-air oxygen saturation (spO2) (HR, 0.87), D-dimer (HR, 1.02), and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels (HR, 1.01) at the time of admission were independent predictors of incident PE during hospitalization. A risk score was constructed with these four variables showing a high predictive value of incident PE (AUC-ROC: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.80 to 0.93). Conclusions: Our findings confirmed a high incidence of PE in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Heart rate, spO2, D-dimer, and CRP levels at admission were associated with higher rates of PE during hospitalization.

Studies that analyze the epidemiology and risk factors for invasive fungal disease (IFD) after engraftment in alloSCT are few in number. This single-center retrospective study included 404 alloSCT adult recipients surviving 440 days who engrafted and were discharged without prior IFD. All patients who received ⩾ 20 mg/day of prednisone were assigned to primary oral prophylaxis (itraconazole or low-dose voriconazole). The primary end point was the cumulative incidence (CI) of probable/proven IFD using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer and Mycoses Study Group (EORTC/MSG) criteria. The independent prognostic factors after multivariate analyses were used to construct a post-engraftment IFD risk score. The 1-year CI of IFD was 11%. The non-relapse mortality was 40% in those developing IFD and 16% in those who did not. The intent-to-treat analysis showed that 17% of patients abandoned the assigned prophylaxis. Age 440 years, ⩾ 1 previous SCT, pre-engraftment neutropenia 415 days, extensive chronic GVHD and CMV reactivation were independent risk factors. The post-engraftment IFD score stratified patients into low risk (0-1 factor, CI 0.7%), intermediate risk (2 factors, CI 9.9%) and high risk (3-5 factors, CI 24.7%) (P o 0.0001). The antifungal prophylaxis strategy failed to prevent post-engraftment IFD in 11% of alloSCT. Our risk score could be useful to implement risk-adapted strategies using antifungal prophylaxis after engraftment.

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