Evidence for association between sarcoidosis and pulmonary embolism from 35-year record linkage study

In the last year, we have observed large pulmonary embolisms (PEs) in four of 85 patients that attended the Oxford Sarcoidosis Clinic. In addition, we note a few case reports of PEs and unprovoked thrombotic events in patients with sarcoidosis (only one referenced here),1 leading us to question if, compared with normal populations, patients with sarcoidosis have a higher risk of developing PE. To explore this possibility, we performed a retrospective cohort analysis using data from the well-established Oxford Record Linkage Study.2 This is a database of statistical records, spanning 35 years, of all hospital admissions (including day cases) to National Health Service (NHS) hospitals, and all deaths, regardless of where they occurred, in defined populations within the former Oxfordshire NHS region. The database and methods used for studying disease associations have been described2 and can also be found in the Supplementary data. The sarcoidosis cohort (n=1002) was assembled by identifying admissions during the study period where sarcoidosis was recorded as the principal diagnostic reason for admission. The reference …