MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Karl Minges, MPH PhD Candidate Yale Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Yale School of Nursing Research Associate | Yale-New Haven Hospital Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation (CORE) McDougal Graduate Career Fellow | Yale Office of Career Strategy   Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Pulmonary embolism, caused by a sudden blockage in the lung artery, is thought to be among the most treatable and preventable causes of death. This has been precipitated by several recent diagnostic and therapeutic advancements that have broadened the range of options for diagnosis, treatment, and management for pulmonary embolism in the past decade. In fact, the public health burden of pulmonary embolism is so great that the U.S. Surgeon General issued a Call to Action to prevent venous thromboembolism, comprising deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in 2008. Despite recent diagnostic and therapeutic advances in pulmonary embolism treatment and prevention, little is known regarding the national trends of pulmonary embolism among older adults – a population that is adversely at risk. In this study, we identified the recent trends in pulmonary embolism hospitalizations and outcomes, such as in-hospital, 30-day and 6-month mortality using a 100% sample of Medicare beneficiaries from 1999 to 2010. We examined instances where pulmonary embolism was the primary or most serious reason for which the patient was in the hospital. Trends by age, sex, and race cohorts were also examined. (more…)