Subgroup analysis showing the difference between study design for the studies with combined adverse events, all-cause mortality and pulmonary embolism (PE)-related mortality
| Number of studies | Pooled effect size (95% confidence interval) | I2 (%) | Q statistic | |
| Combined adverse events | ||||
| Prospective | 19 | 3.81 (2.02–7.21) | 57.2 | 0.635 |
| Retrospective | 10 | 3.04 (2.44–3.80) | 0 | |
| TTE study | 14 | 3.70 (2.60–5.28) | 47.1 | 0.473 |
| Non-TTE study | 15 | 2.89 (2.09–3.99) | 0 | |
| TTE <24 h | 7 | 3.74 (2.38–5.88) | 54.6 | 0.439 |
| TTE 24–72 h | 11 | 3.03 (1.92–4.77) | 0 | |
| Outcomes in hospital or <14 days | 18 | 3.43 (2.61–4.49) | 0.4 | 0.574 |
| Outcomes <30 days | 11 | 3.26 (2.12–5.02) | 50.7 | |
| Published before 2014 ESC PE guidelines | 18 | 3.56 (2.66–4.76) | 6.3 | 0.383 |
| Published after 2014 ESC PE guidelines | 11 | 3.07 (2.07–4.54) | 46.3 | |
| AHRQ study quality fair or poor | 20 | 3.45 (2.54–4.69) | 15.4 | 0.603 |
| AHRQ study quality good | 9 | 3.13 (2.11–4.65) | 47.0 | |
| All-cause mortality | ||||
| Prospective | 14 | 1.95 (1.56–2.44) | 0 | 0.543 |
| Retrospective | 19 | 2.48 (1.62–3.81) | 47.1 | |
| TTE study | 13 | 2.13 (1.74–2.58) | 0 | 0.462 |
| Non-TTE study | 11 | 2.50 (1.36–4.58) | 34.1 | |
| TTE <24 h | 5 | 1.95 (0.84–4.54) | 0 | 0.976 |
| TTE 24–72 h | 14 | 2.00 (1.55–2.58) | 33.9 | |
| Outcomes in hospital or <14 days | 14 | 2.88 (2.10–3.93) | 15.9 | 0.011 |
| Outcomes <30 days | 10 | 1.70 (1.35–2.12) | 0 | |
| Published before 2014 ESC guidelines | 16 | 2.10 (1.68–2.63) | 0 | 0.619 |
| Published after 2014 ESC guidelines | 7 | 2.06 (1.38–3.08) | 52.8 | |
| AHRQ study quality fair or poor | 14 | 2.26 (1.58–3.24) | 38.0 | 0.880 |
| AHRQ study quality good | 10 | 2.06 (1.59–2.67) | 0 | |
| PE-related mortality | ||||
| Prospective | 13 | 3.36 (2.31–4.88) | 0 | 0.103 |
| Retrospective | 4 | 7.37 (3.30–16.46) | 0 | |
| TTE study | 12 | 4.79 (2.92–7.86) | 19.8 | 0.452 |
| Non-TTE study | 5 | 3.01 (1.64–5.54) | 0 | |
| TTE <24 h | 5 | 5.56 (1.74–17.74) | 0 | 0.696 |
| TTE 24–72 h | 7 | 4.12 (2.23–7.63) | 30.8 | |
| Outcomes in hospital or <14 days | 9 | 3.61 (2.04–6.38) | 0 | 0.392 |
| Outcomes <30 days | 8 | 6.05 (2.96–12.37) | 49.8 | |
| Published before 2014 ESC guidelines | 13 | 3.07 (2.12–4.45) | 0 | 0.010 |
| Published after 2014 ESC guidelines | 4 | 12.16 (5.30–27.91) | 0 | |
| AHRQ study quality fair or poor | 7 | 8.25 (2.98–22.88) | 36.1 | 0.122 |
| AHRQ study quality good | 10 | 3.32 (2.28–4.85) | 0 | |
AHRQ: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; ESC: European Society of Cardiology; TTE: transthoracic echocardiogram.