Baseline characteristics and outcomes of study participants
| Characteristics | DOAC# | Warfarin¶ | p-value |
| Baseline characteristics | |||
| Demographics | |||
| Age years, median (interquartile range) | 60.1 (36.2–84.1) | 59.0 (35.4–82.3) | 0.83 |
| Female, n (%) | 83 (53.9) | 41 (53.2) | 0.92 |
| Anthropometrics | |||
| Height cm, mean±sd | 170.9±9.3 | 170.8±9.0 | 0.91 |
| Weight kg, mean±sd | 122.4±22.6 | 125.9±33.5 | 0.82 |
| BMI kg·m−2, mean±sd | 42.0±7.5 | 43.3±11.8 | 0.74 |
| BMI >40 kg·m−2 or weight >120 kg, n (%) | 104 (67.5) | 46 (59.7) | 0.24 |
| Clinical parameters on presentation | |||
| First recorded SBP mmHg, mean±sd | 128.1±21.5 | 124.5±25.7 | 0.31 |
| First recorded heart rate, mean±sd | 96.5±19.1 | 96.6±18.1 | 0.89 |
| SpO2 <94% on presentation, n (%) | 73 (47.4) | 40 (51.9) | 0.51 |
| History of malignancy, n (%) | 16 (10.4) | 6 (7.8) | 0.43 |
| PESI score, mean±sd | 86.1±29.9 | 88.7±33.7 | 0.56 |
| PESI score, n (%) | |||
| Class V: very high risk | 14 (9.1) | 7 (9.1) | |
| Class IV: high risk | 19 (12.3) | 11 (14.3) | 0.24 |
| Class III: moderate risk | 49 (31.8) | 24 (31.2) | 0.89 |
| Class II: low risk | 29 (18.8) | 15 (19.5) | 0.78 |
| Class I: very low risk | 43 (27.9) | 20 (26.0) | 0.67 |
| CTPA characteristics | |||
| Most proximal clot location, n (%) | |||
| Saddle/main PA | 36 (23.4) | 13 (16.7) | 0.47 |
| Lobar arteries | 66 (42.9) | 36 (46.8) | 0.78 |
| Segmental | 25 (32.5) | 46 (30.0) | 0.81 |
| Clot number: bilateral | 133 (86.3) | 62 (80.5) | 0.50 |
| RHS on CTPA, n (%) | 97 (63.3) | 51 (66.2) | 0.83 |
| Echocardiographic parameters | |||
| LV impairment, n (%) | 16 (12.7) | 7 (11.3) | 0.76 |
| RV impairment, n (%) | 78 (61.9) | 39 (60.0) | 0.89 |
| RV dilatation, n (%) | 92 (73.1) | 41 (66.1) | 0.46 |
| RVSP mmHg, mean±sd | 43.5±12.4 | 43.9 (10.5) | 0.85 |
| Laboratory markers | |||
| Elevated troponin, n (%) | 72 (62.6) | 29 (64.4) | 0.88 |
| Lactate on presentation mmol·L−1, mean±sd | 2.3±1.4 | 2.5±1.6 | 0.52 |
| eGFR mL·min−1·1.73 m−2, mean±sd | 68.1±15.5 | 67.3±20.2 | 0.78 |
| Pulmonary embolism risk category | |||
| Low risk | 39 (25.3) | 16 (20.8) | 0.45 |
| Intermediate–low risk | 45 (29.2) | 30 (39.0) | 0.14 |
| Intermediate–high risk | 57 (37.0) | 22 (28.6) | 0.24 |
| High risk | 13 (8.4) | 9 (11.7) | 0.48 |
| Initial treatment | |||
| Intravenous heparin infusion, n (%) | 66 (42.9) | 40 (51.9) | 0.11 |
| Low molecular-weight heparin, n (%) | 53 (34.4) | 28 (36.4) | 0.69 |
| Thrombolysis and heparin, n (%) | 13 (8.4) | 9 (11.7) | 0.62 |
| Upfront DOAC | 22 (14.3) | ||
| Type of DOAC and maintenance dose | |||
| Rivaroxaban 20 mg daily, n (%) | 141 (91.6) | ||
| Apixaban 5 mg twice daily, n (%) | 13 (8.4) | ||
| Outcomes at follow-up | |||
| Recurrent VTE within 6 months, n (%) | |||
| All recurrent VTE, n (%) | 9 (5.8) | 5 (6.5) | 0.85 |
| Recurrent pulmonary embolism, n (%) | 4 (2.6) | 3 (3.9) | 0.59 |
| Bleeding within 6 months | |||
| Major bleeding, n (%) | 1 (0.6) | 2 (2.6) | 0.25 |
| CRNM bleeding, n (%) | 7 (4.5) | 6 (7.8) | 0.22 |
| Minor bleeding, n (%) | 14 (9.1) | 5 (6.5) | 0.58 |
| Mortality | |||
| 30-day all-cause mortality, n (%) | 2 (1.3) | 3 (3.9) | 0.22 |
| 6-month all-cause mortality, n (%) | 4 (2.6) | 5 (6.5) | 0.16 |
| Length of hospital stay days, mean±sd | 5.1 (3.8) | 7.9 (4.1) | 0.01 |
DOAC: direct oral anticoagulant; BMI: body mass index; SBP: systolic blood pressure; SpO2: oxygen saturation measured by pulse oximetry; PESI: pulmonary embolism severity index; PA: pulmonary artery; RHS: right heart strain; CTPA: computed tomography pulmonary angiogram; LV: left ventricle; RV: right ventricle; RVSP: right ventricular systolic pressure; VTE: venous thromboembolism; CRNM: clinically relevant non-major. #: n=154; ¶: n=77.