Prevalence of Pulmonary Embolism Among Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Discharges: A Decade of Analysis of the National Hospital Discharge Survey.

Introduction: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a life threatening preventable medical condition involving sudden occlusion of arteries within the lungs. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an inflammatory disorder and therefore independently poses a risk of PE. We aimed to determine the association of SLE and PE using National Hospital Discharge Survey data, a national representative sample of hospital discharges throughout the United States.