title: Mortality from acute pulmonary embolism according to season.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Varying observations have been made on seasonal differences of mortality from acute pulmonary embolism (PE).
  
  
  METHODS
  The number of deaths each year from PE, from 1980 through 1998, based on death certificates, was obtained from the US National Center for Health Statistics Multiple Cause-of-Death Files.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Acute PE as the cause of death ranged from 0.91 to 1.03 PE deaths per quarter per 100,000 population. Small differences were statistically significant due to the large number of patients evaluated. Quarterly mortality rates from PE in the northeast, south, midwest, and west, where seasonal weather varies widely, showed no meaningful seasonal differences.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mortality rates from PE do not vary to a meaningful extent according to season.
authors.affiliation: St Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital, Pontiac, MI 48341-2985, USA. steinp@trinity-health.org
authors.forename: Paul D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.forename: Fadi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kayali
authors.forename: Afzal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beemath
authors.forename: Elias
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Skaf
authors.forename: Majd
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alnas
authors.forename: Issa
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Alesh
authors.forename: Ronald E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Olson
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000401:mortality*; D012621:Seasons; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology