Elevated risk of dyspnea in pediatric patients three months after pulmonary embolism

This study investigated whether pediatric patients with a prior pulmonary embolism (PE) are more likely to have a diagnosis of dyspnea compared with those who have not had a PE. We obtained de-identified data from TriNetX, using both UT Southwestern (UTSW) and Research Networks, and identified patients aged 8–21 years with a diagnosis of PE (ICD-10-CM I26) and dyspnea (ICD-10-CM R06.0). Patients with a PE diagnosis had a significantly higher risk for a diagnosis of dyspnea. This relationship was observed in both the UTSW Network (OR 4.57 [95 % CI 2.82–7.43]; p < 0.0001) and Research Network (OR 6.57 [95 % CI 5.65–7.65]; p < 0.0001). Moreover, the risk of having a dyspnea diagnosis was significantly higher for females compared with males with a PE diagnosis in Research Networks (p < 0.0001). These findings have significant clinical implications, suggesting that clinicians should consider prior PE as an independent risk factor for diagnosis of dyspnea in pediatric patients after excluding other possible contributing factors.