Getting to Choosing Wisely: The Value of a PE Clinical Decision Tool to Enhance Appropriateness of Care

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is the third most common cause of cardiovascular death, affecting between 300,000 and 600,000 patients annually. Presentation is nonspecific, resulting in the reflexive decision to evaluate with computed tomography (CT) pulmonary angiography, which has a low diagnostic yield (10%-20%). However, clinical tools such as the Wells ’ Criteria for Pulmonary Embolism and D-dimer levels are validated nonradiographic methods to rule out PE and effectively reduce diagnostic time, cost, and potential complications.

Source: Journal of Vascular Surgery - August 22, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Hallie E. Baer, Taylor D. Hicks, Georges M. Haidar, Maureen K. Sheehan, Matthew J. Sideman, Lori L. Pounds, Mark G. Davies Tags: Abstract from the 2017 Western Vascular Society Annual Meeting Source Type: research