*Purpose: The primary purpose of this study was to assess the risk of mortality attributed to pulmonary embolism in kidney transplant recipients. We also wanted to identify factors contributing to this risk.

*Methods: We analyzed the UNOS data to assess the risk of mortality attributed to pulmonary embolism in kidney transplant recipients. All patients who underwent a kidney transplant were included in this study. Standard statistical techniques were used for this analysis.

*Results: We identified 422,150 kidney transplant recipients in the UNOS data for a period extending from 10/1/1987 to 9/30/2017, of which 278,192 individuals underwent a deceased and 143,877 individuals had a live donor kidney transplant. Majority of transplant recipients were male (60.3%). Preemptive transplantation accounted for 15.7% of transplants. Caucasians dominated the cohort (56.2%), followed by African Americans (23.9%) and Hispanics (13.4%). Patient mortality was reported in 138,888 individuals and a specific cause of death was identified in 96,236 cases. Pulmonary embolism accounted for 418 (0.46%) of all such deaths. In all, 106 (25.4%) deaths from pulmonary embolism occurred within first 90 days of transplantation. In the entire transplant cohort, patients who died of pulmonary embolism were older (53.8 years vs. 45.9 years; p<0.01); heavier (84.5 kg vs. 78.3 kg, P<0.01); and had a higher BMI (28.5 vs. 26.5, P<0.01). Of all patients who died, those who were on dialysis prior to kidney transplant had lower odds of dying of pulmonary embolism compared to those who died of other causes (OR=0.57, 95%CI=0.43-0.75, p<0.01).

*Conclusions: Mortality due to pulmonary embolism is rare in kidney transplant recipients accounting for less than 0.5% of all reported deaths. A quarter such deaths were observed within first ninety days of transplantation. Older age, higher body weight and higher BMI were associated with increased risk. Of those who died, patients maintained on dialysis prior to transplantation had lower odds of death due to pulmonary embolism.

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