Health-related quality of life is impaired in bleeding disorders of unknown cause: results from the Vienna Bleeding Biobank.

Background: Bleeding disorder of unknown cause (BDUC) is a diagnosis of exclusion after extensive investigation of coagulation and platelet function and is commonly seen among patients with mild-to-moderate bleeding disorders. Despite increasing awareness among treating physicians, little is known about the health-related quality of life (HrQoL) in BDUC. Objectives: To investigate HrQoL in patients with BDUC in comparison to the general population and patients diagnosed with other established bleeding disorders. Methods: Patients with mild-to-moderate bleeding disorders from the Vienna Bleeding Biobank, a prospective cohort study, were contacted via mail and phone to complete the 36-Item Health Survey Questionnaire form. Results: In total, 333/657 (50.7%) patients completed the 36-Item Health Survey Questionnaire. Patients with BDUC (n = 207, 62%) had significantly impaired HrQoL both in physical (47.8 vs 49.2) and mental health parameters (42.9 vs 51.0) compared to the general population (n = 2914, 56% females), which remained after adjustment for sex and age in multivariable linear regression. The impairment in HrQoL, compared to patients with von Willebrand disease, platelet function defects, or mild clotting factor deficiencies, did not prevail after adjustment for age and sex. In patients with BDUC, age and the presence of at least 1 comorbidity were associated with impaired physical health but not sex or bleeding severity. Of all analyzed bleeding symptoms, only joint bleeding was associated with impaired physical health and gastrointestinal bleeding with mental health in BDUC. Conclusion: The impairments in HrQoL in patients with BDUC emphasize the burden of BDUC on mental and physical well-being, encouraging early recognition and better counseling of patients with BDUC.

Pulmonary embolism during the COVID-19 pandemic: Decline in diagnostic procedures and incidence at a university hospital.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has focused medical attention on treating affected patients and protecting others from infection. However, concerns have been raised regarding the pandemic´s impact and associated containment measures (eg curfew, lockdown) on non-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related acute medical diseases. OBJECTIVES: To investigate changes in the incidence of pulmonary embolism (PE) during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the period before the pandemic and reference periods in previous years. METHODS: In this single-center study, we explored all diagnostic imaging tests performed for suspected PE between weeks 1 and 17 of the years 2018, 2019, and 2020. Incidence of PE (ie, primary outcome) was analyzed. Secondary outcomes included number of imaging tests for suspected PE. RESULTS: Compared to weeks 1 to 11, 2020, an abrupt decline in PE diagnosis (mean weekly rate, 5.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.8-6.6 vs 1.8; 95% CI, 0.0-3.6) and imaging tests (mean weekly rate, 32.5; 95% CI, 27.5-37.6 vs. 17.3; 95% CI, 11.6-23.1) was observed from week 12, with beginning of the containment measures and public lockdown in Austria. Compared to weeks 12 to 17 of 2018 and 2019, PE incidence and imaging tests were similarly decreased from 5.3 (95% CI, 3.6-7.1) to 1.8 (95% CI, 0.0-3.6) and 31.5 (95% CI, 27.1-35.9) to 17.3 (95% CI, 11.6-23.1), respectively. The median simplified pulmonary embolism severity index (sPESI) score of PE patients during the pandemic was higher than in all other PE patients (3; interquartile range, 1-3 vs 1; interquartile range, 0-2; P = .002). CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that the COVID-19 pandemic has an impact on non-COVID-19-related acute diseases as shown by the decline in incidence of PE and imaging procedures for diagnostic workup. Further studies from other hospitals are needed to confirm our findings.