Eur Heart J. 2026 May 25:ehag388. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehag388. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
As the global population ages and individuals live longer with chronic diseases associated with venous thromboembolism, acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is expected to remain a major public health challenge. Like myocardial infarction and stroke, PE is linked to established cardiovascular risk factors, including advancing age, obesity, smoking, and chronic inflammatory conditions. Despite this, population-based primary and secondary prevention strategies for PE remain limited, highlighting the need for an updated epidemiological understanding. A comprehensive public health approach to PE should encompass not only the management of acute events and transient risk factors but also a detailed appreciation of epidemiology and risk patterns across populations and communities, to support clinician education, public awareness, long-term individual and community risk assessment, ultimately preventive efforts. In this review, we summarize current epidemiological evidence, highlighting trends on modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors for acute PE, with the goal of informing strategies for improved prevention and population health management.
PMID:42178972 | DOI:10.1093/eurheartj/ehag388