Background: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a major cause of illness in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, the current study aimed to find out the
incidence rates of pulmonary thromboembolism and its associated comorbidities in the Ha'il Region, Northern Saudi Arabia.
Methodology: In this prospective descriptive study, data referred to 133 patients admitted with suspected pulmonary
thromboembolism (PTE) were obtained. For risk assessment, patients confirmed as having PTE were further ascertained as cases and
those unconfirmed were categorized as controls. Results: PTE was diagnosed in 45/133(33.8%) of the patients. Out of the 45 patients,
26/45(58%) were males and 19/45(42%) were females. The incidence of PE among males was 26/70(37%), and among females was
19/63(30%). The incidence rates of PE among patients with hypertension (HTN), Diabetes Mellitus (DM), Cancer, patients with a
history of Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), Heart Disease (HD), Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), other diseases, and immobilization were
17/55(31%), 18/59(31%), ¼(25%), 4/16(25%), 9/24(38%), 9/22(41%), 13/49(27%), and 11/52(21%), in this order. Conclusion:
Pulmonary thromboembolism is prevalent in Northern Saudi Arabia, and more frequent among males. The most common risk
factors associated with PTE in this series of patients were obesity/overweight, cardiovascular diseases, CKD, DM, and immobilization.
Keywords: pulmonary embolism, Thromboembolism, DVT, Obesity, Saudi Arabia