This retrospective acute pulmonary embolism study used a 72-hour landmark to assess whether early blood count changes improved prediction of mortality within 30 days of admission. Among 4,531 patients with 546 deaths, each standard-deviation increase in white blood cell count change was associated with higher mortality odds (adjusted OR 1.35; 95% CI, 1.22–1.48). In 266 external patients with 41 deaths, adding this change to a model containing baseline white blood cell count changed AUC by only 0.0035 (95% CI, −0.0262 to 0.0350). Incremental predictive value was not externally validated.
Early white blood cell count change was associated with subsequent mortality, but it did not clearly improve prediction beyond baseline information in external validation.
Study limitation: The retrospective 72-hour landmark design restricts applicability to landmark-eligible patients, and models included only a restricted set of clinical predictors.
AI-generated from the published abstract with automated source checks. For research discovery; consult the original paper before applying findings.