Time trends of catheter-directed treatment in acute pulmonary embolism in Germany

Background: Catheter-directed treatment (CDT) is an innovative treatment for patients with elevated risk pulmonary embolism (PE) to resolve embolus and restore pulmonary perfusion. Objectives: We aimed to analyse the use and the benefit of CDT in PE patients in Germany. Methods: The German nationwide inpatient sample was used to include all hospitalizations of patients with PE from 2005 to 2020 in Germany. PE patients were stratified for CDT usage. Temporal trends and the impact of CDT on case fatality and other outcomes were investigated. CDT was associated with reduced MACCE (OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.83-0.99) and with a trend toward lower case fatality (OR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.84-1.01). The benefit of CDT regarding case fatality was age-dependent. Conclusion: Although the annual rate of CDT increased in Germany between 2005 and 2020, only 0.2% of the PE patients were treated with CDT. Selection criteria for CDT treatment were younger age, male sex, previous surgery, and elevated risk-PE. CDT treatment was associated with reduced MACCE and case-fatality rate in PE patients with elevated-risk PE.