This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (2)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related articles  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Venous Thromboembolism  • Diagnosis  • Alert me on articles by topic

Are We Moving Toward an Outcome Standard?

Arch Intern Med. 2006;166:147-148.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common and sometimes fatal disease. Diagnosis is challenging because the signs and symptoms are nonspecific. The gold standard test for many years has been pulmonary angiography. Angiography is frequently not performed, however, likely owing to the inconvenience and perceived risks of the procedure. Do we really need to diagnose every PE, regardless of size, that might be identified on invasive testing? The important question may not be who has PE but who is likely to have a recurrent fatal PE? Diagnostic approaches now center on sequential noninvasive testing to help physicians identify patients not likely to have significant venous thromboembolism (VTE), in whom anticoagulation can be safely withheld. Two studies reported in this issue of the ARCHIVES further our understanding about how this can be done in a cost-effective manner by limiting the number of patients who require radiologic imaging.^2-3

Much of the literature . . . [Full Text of this Article]

AUTHOR INFORMATION
Lisa K. Moores, MD

RELATED ARTICLES

A Prediction Rule to Identify Low-Risk Patients With Pulmonary Embolism
Drahomir Aujesky, D. Scott Obrosky, Roslyn A. Stone, Thomas E. Auble, Arnaud Perrier, Jacques Cornuz, Pierre-Marie Roy, and Michael J. Fine
Arch Intern Med. 2006;166(2):169-175.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Value of D-Dimer Testing for the Exclusion of Pulmonary Embolism in Patients With Previous Venous Thromboembolism
Grégoire Le Gal, Marc Righini, Pierre-Marie Roy, Oliver Sanchez, Drahomir Aujesky, Arnaud Perrier, and Henri Bounameaux
Arch Intern Med. 2006;166(2):176-180.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Bedside Investigation of Pulmonary Embolism Diagnosis Study: A Double-blind Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Combinations of 3 Bedside Tests vs Ventilation-Perfusion Scan for the Initial Investigation of Suspected Pulmonary Embolism
Marc A. Rodger, Christopher N. Bredeson, Gwynne Jones, Pasteur Rasuli, François Raymond, Anne Marie Clement, Alan Karovitch, Helene Brunette, Dimitri Makropoulos, Mark Reardon, Ian Stiell, Rama Nair, and Philip S. Wells
Arch Intern Med. 2006;166(2):181-187.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Diagnosis of Pulmonary Embolism -- Simplicity in a Complex Field
JWatch Emergency Med. 2006;2006:3-3.
FULL TEXT  

Bedside Tests vs. V/Q Scan for Ruling Out Pulmonary Embolism
JWatch Emergency Med. 2006;2006:4-4.
FULL TEXT  

Which Patients with Pulmonary Embolism Can Safely Be Discharged?
JWatch Emergency Med. 2006;2006:6-6.
FULL TEXT