Pulmonary embolism in young people Trends in Germany from 2005 to 2011

Objectives: There is an ongoing discussion about the impact of hormonal contraception on the incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in young women. Specific data of the significance of this problem and its changes in recent years in Germany are not available. Thus, we analyzed the incidence of VIE in hospitalized young patients and looked for gender-specific differences. Patients and methods: Detailed lists of all pulmonary embolisms (PE) coded as 126 and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) coded as 180 in patients aged 10 to 39 years hospitalized in the years 2005 to 2011 were provided by the Federal, Statistical Office. Results: Beginning at the age of 12-13 years girls have higher numbers of PE and DVT documented as principal diagnosis, as compared to boys. This gender-specific difference disappears at the ages of 32-33 years. The difference in total numbers of PE (as principal diagnosis) between women and men within this 20-year time span increased from 318 in 2005 to 606 in 2010 and decreased to 505 in 2011. Stratifying the cases of PE according to presence or absence of cor pulmonale, the analysis showed a specific increase of PE in young I women without cor pulmonale within the period of seven years between 2005 and 2011. Similar changes could not be shown for DVT as principal diagnosis. Conclusion: The presented data from the German DRG statistics show a disproportionally higher increase of young women hospitalised for pulmonary embolism as principal diagnosis in recent years. The possible impact of hormonal contraception on this increase has to be further elucidated.